NDA Presidential candidate Murmu ends 3-day campaign in NE states

Guwahati/Aizawl, July 7 (IANS): On the last leg of her three-day tour to seven of the eight northeastern states, NDA Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu on Thursday campaigned in Assam and Mizoram for the July 18 Presidential poll.

Murmu — the first woman tribal leader to contest for the country’s highest constitutional post, has received a rousing welcome in both Assam and Mizoram.

The 64-year-old leader has held a series of meetings with the Chief Ministers, ministers, MLAs and MPs of BJP and its allies in the northeastern states and sought support for her candidature.

In Guwahati, the NDA presidential candidate met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his cabinet colleagues and MLAs and MPs of BJP and its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL).

In Aizawl, Murmu after meeting Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga, his cabinet colleagues, MLAs and MPs also met Mizoram Governor Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati at Raj Bhawan where they had a brief interaction.

She enquired about various facets of Mizoram and said that she was very much impressed with the natural beauty and the climate of Mizoram.

Murmu accompanied by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik and senior BJP leaders visited Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland on Wednesday after visiting Tripura and Manipur on Tuesday.

“Murmu after visiting West Bengal in the weekend would go to another northeastern state Sikkim on Saturday to campaign for her candidature,” Bhowmik told IANS.

In the northeastern states, Chief Ministers and other senior ministers along with leaders received her at the airports while artistes from different communities welcomed her with colourful traditional performances.

According to the political analysts, Murmu, who was also the minister in Odisha, and governor of Jharkhand, would get maximum votes in the eight northeastern states against her rival and opposition parties’ sponsored candidate Yashwant Sinha as four of the eight northeastern states — Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh are governed by the BJP while the remaining four states are ruled by the NDA allies.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh also sounded optimistic about Murmu’s victory.

“Held a meeting with all the MLAs of BJP-led Govt and Hon’ble MPs of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha today and deliberated on the preparation for the upcoming Presidential election. We are confident that Smt Draupadi Murmu Ji will become the next President of India,” Singh tweeted.