- Bengaluru: JD (S) supremo H. D. Deve Gowda said on Wednesday June 22 that the BJP-led NDA’s Droupadi Murmu is a suitable and non-controversial presidential candidate.
HDD said that he does not want to refer to Murmu as merely a candidate from a tribal group, but rather that she is competent for the post of President.
“I don’t want to go into specifics about why the BJP selected Murmu as the candidate. There were a few proposed names. I went with Sharad Pawar to my first opposition party gathering. However, the point is that, in my opinion, the candidate that the BJP chose is one of the most qualified,” Gowda said in response to a query about Murmu’s candidacy.
He further said that Murmu was Governor of Jharkhand, and no one spoke against her there. “She served as the Minister in the Naveen Patnaik government of Odisha before becoming the Governor of Jharkhand. In my opinion, there is no controversy,” he said.
The presidential election is scheduled for July 18, and the major opposition parties, including the Congress, the NCP, and the TMC, have declared Yashwant Sinha as their joint candidate.
Gowda, however, remained silent when asked whether his party will support Murmu or Sinha.
On Tuesday, the BJP-led NDA announced Droupadi Murmu, an Odisha tribal leader, as its candidate.
