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The presidential candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Droupadi Murmu filed her nomination on Friday, 24 June.
A host of ruling party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda arrived at Parliament ahead of the nomination to endorse Murmu's application.
While PM Modi was Murmu's first proposer, senior Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and BJP president JP Nadda were among the other signatories on the nomination papers. The prime minister handed over the set of papers to Returning Officer PC Mody.
Every set of nominations to a president has to have 50 proposers and 50 seconders among elected representatives.
Besides the complement of NDA leaders, YSR Congress' Vijaysai Reddy and Biju Janata Dal leader Sasmit Patra, who are not part of the alliance, were also in Parliament to back her nomination.
Murmu also called upon Opposition leaders Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, and Mamata Banerjee, seeking their support for her candidature.
Moreover, quoting party sources, news agency ANI reported that BJP chief JP Nadda dialled Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Farooq Abdullah and HD Deve Gowda once again, requesting support for Murmu. Nadda further requested that on an issue like this, there should be no politics and that a unanimous election should take place.
Murmu Pays Tribute to Gandhi, Ambedkar, Birsa Munda Ahead of Nomination
Murmu paid tribute at the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar, and Birsa Munda at Parliament, before she filed her nomination.
Modi had met the presidential candidate in New Delhi on Thursday and said that her nomination was appreciated across India by all sections of society.
The BJP had announced Murmu's name as the NDA's candidate for presidential election on 21 June.
If elected, the former Jharkhand governor will become the first Scheduled Tribe president and the second-ever woman president of India.
Murmu is up against Yashwant Sinha, a former Union minister, and the Opposition's joint candidate for the polls.
'Historic': Tribal Affairs Minister on Murmu's Nomination
Before the nomination, Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma had said, "I'm extremely thrilled. It has been a part of our ideology. My late father PS Sangma had once said that one day a tribal person will become the president of India. It's a dream come true for all of us. We're supporting her candidature."
"The people of the country especially the tribal community are feeling proud of the nomination of Droupadi Murmu as a presidential candidate. This is a historic," Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Incidentally, Murmu's name was also doing the rounds for the BJP's likely choice for the top constitutional post in 2017, when President Pranab Mukherjee was set to leave Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur also called the decision a historic one by PM Modi and NDA allies "to choose Droupadi Murmu, a tribal woman, for the top post of President."
"Her life was full of struggles but she overcame all that," Thakur added.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has called a meeting of its legislators and MPs on Saturday, pertaining to the decision on extending support to Presidential election candidates. Meeting to be chaired by party supremo Shibu Soren.
'Scheduled Tribe Community Proud': Amit Shah
Home Minister Amit Shah also met Murmu on Thursday and said that the Adivasi community was feeling proud over the announcement of her nomination.
He tweeted, "Met NDA's presidential candidate Smt. Draupadi Murmu ji and conveyed her best wishes. Scheduled Tribe community is feeling proud by the announcement of her name. I am sure that her administrative and public experience will benefit the whole country."
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