National Desk: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Draupadi Murmu and opposition joint candidate Yashwant Sinha are facing each other in the presidential election today. More than 4,000 MPs and MLAs are casting their votes today to elect the 15th President of India. With several regional parties extending their support to former Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu, the numbers are clearly in favor of the NDA candidate.
The parties who are supporting Draupadi Murmu include Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JDU), Shiromani Akali Dal, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), AIADMK. , TDP, YSRCP and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
Congress, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party, National Conference, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) ), Rashtriya Janata Dal and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also announced its support to the opposition candidate. The call for a joint opposition candidate for the presidential election was led by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
The former Union Minister and former IAS officer Yashwant Sinha was the fourth choice of the opposition after the first three names- Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The first three names withdrew themselves from the race for the presidency. Many things will happen for the first time with Draupadi Murmu’s victory. She will be the first woman President to be born in independent India. At 64, she will be the youngest president to reach the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the first tribal leader to hold the country’s top post, and India’s second woman president.
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