BJP keeps heat on Mamata Banerjee over Droupadi Murmu

CM had, however, said she would have backed the saffron-backed candidate had she known about her candidature before the name of Yashwant Sinha was announced

Droupadi Murmu.: File photo

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |   18.07.22  : The BJP on Sunday said Mamata Banerjee was choosing to end up on the wrong side of history by not endorsing the NDA’s presidential poll candidate Droupadi Murmu, who is set to become India’s first tribal woman to hold the highest constitutional post.

The BJP demanded support from the Bengal chief minister and her party for the state’s governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, named by the NDA as its vice-presidential candidate.

In the morning, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted a picture of a poster of his party in support of Murmu, where the Trinamul chief has been called “anti-tribal communities”.

“As India looks forward to its first tribal woman President, Bengal is awash with discussion of how Mamata Banerjee and TMC will end up on the wrong side of history. Posters highlighting her disdain for the community across all Tribal majority districts have found great resonance,” posted Malviya, a Bengal co-minder of the BJP. Sources in the BJP said such posters were on display in several pockets of the state that have elected representatives from the party.

This was part of the BJP’s ongoing efforts to vilify the Bengal chief minister over her stand on the presidential election.

That Mamata, perhaps, sees some potential damage from that line of attack was apparent on July 1, when she issued a statement saying she would have considered Murmu as a consensus candidate, had the BJP consulted her before the Opposition collectively decided to field former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha.

After Murmu — a tribal woman — was fielded, it became an emotive, sensitive issue for many parties across the spectrum.

Similar social and political concerns may have forced Mamata to take a softer stand on Murmu, sources in the Trinamul Congress have said.

“Which is why she did not rush into the Opposition’s process of selecting the vice-presidential candidate,” said a senior Trinamul MP.

The Bengal BJP president, Sukanta Majumdar, demanded Mamata’s backing for Dhankhar. “Mamata Banerjee had said she would have backed Droupadi Murmu had she known about her candidature before the name of Yashwant Sinha was announced. Now, she knows that the name of Jagdeep Dhankhar has been announced. She and her party should support him. It should be their honour to support him,” said Majumdar.

Trinamul state general-secretary Kunal Ghosh, however, reiterated that a decision on the vice-presidential election was yet to be taken.