Presidential poll date fixed, Murmu leads race in NDA

By Our Special Correspondent

The Narendra Modi government is in a comfortable position to elect its nominee as the next President of India in the upcoming poll for the country’s highest office, even as it is short of the required majority mark by a little less than 20,000 votes. With the Election Commission on Thursday setting the ball rolling for Presidential elections on July 18, crystal gazing has begun within the ruling NDA on the likely successor to President Ram Nath Kovind, whose tenure ends on July 24.

The current figures don’t take into account the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections, the result of which will be out on Friday evening. The biennial polls, however, will only mildly alter the current standing.

The names doing the rounds include former governor Draupadi Murmu (Jharkhand), serving governors Arif Mohammed Khan (Kerala), Anandiben Patel (UP), Anusuiya Uikey (Chhattisgarh), Thawar Chand Gehlot (Karnataka) and defence minister Rajnath Singh. Murmu is said to be leading the race because she belongs to a tribal community and was the first governor in Jharkhand to complete a five-year term.

She has good equations not only with Modi and the RSS but also with the NDA allies. Murmu belongs to the Santal tribe of Odisha. "As the BJP begins to increase its reach to tribal voters ahead of the elections in six states and the next Lok Sabha elections, the chances of a tribal candidate cannot be ruled out," a senior BJP leader said.

The other candidate in the race is Arif Mohammad Khan, especially in the wake of a diplomatic backlash from the Muslim world against the recent hate speech of a couple of BJP activists. "Both names have a lot of political and electoral significance for the BJP.

If Arif Khan is considered for the post of Vice President, Murmu Kaul will be the first tribal woman President of India,”BJP sources said. Another name on the list is Ansuya UK from Madhya Pradesh. She belongs to the Scheduled Tribe. Although Anandiben Patel's name is also in the campaign, her chances are slim as she is from Gujarat.

“How can both the Prime Minister and the President belong to the same state? It is very unlikely that she will get it,”said a former party MP. As for Thawar Chand Gehlot, he is the leading Dalit face of the BJP. Rajnath Singh is a Rajput from UP.