NDA names Jharkhand ex-guv as presidential candidate
Opposition chooses former BJP minister Sinha
New Delhi, June 21 (Agencies): The BJP-led NDA on Tuesday named former governor of Jharkhand Draupadi Murmu as its candidate for the presidential polls next month while opposition parties announced former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha as their unanimous candidate.
Murmu, who is from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj and had been BJP MLA twice, served as the Jharkhand governor from 2015 and 2021. If elected, she will become the country’s first tribal president and second ever female president.
Sinha, who has served as Finance and External Affairs Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and is a former BJP leader, was picked after veterans Sharad Pawar and Farooq Abdullah as well as Gopal Krishna Gandhi declined the offer to fight the election. Sinha had quit the BJP in 2018 and joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021.
On Tuesday morning, ahead of his name being announced as the Opposition candidate, he announced he was stepping aside from the TMC for a “larger national cause” and to work for “greater opposition unity”.
