Droupadi's candidature breaches Opposition rank; gains to Congress?

The Opposition's dilemma over Presidential polls deepens with more parties vouching for support for NDA's tribal nominee Droupadi Murmu. While a key Opposition party from the Hindi belt, BSP, led by Mayawati, a prominent leader from the Dalit community, has broken ranks and already announced her support for Droupadi, Congress alliance partner JMM, led by Hemant Soren, a tribal leader, appears set to follow the course.

Droupadi, who had already been assured support by two non-NDA parties — Naveen Patnaik's BJD of Odisha, which has a significant tribal population, and Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh — on Saturday reached out to Soren for his support.

Also Read: Prez polls: JMM meeting on candidate inconclusive; Jharkhand CM Soren to meet Shah

With depleting support for Opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha, the Opposition is not only set to lose the Presidential battle with substantial numbers, but its ideological positioning has also come under strain with murmurs within its camp about the discomfiture in opposing the candidature of Droupadi. Droupadi hails from a humble background and from the Santhal community of tribals, which are in good numbers in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and some pockets of Bihar.

The identity of Murmu cuts across all tribal communities, and Opposing a tribal candidate for the top Constitutional job can create some bad vibes for Congress in states like Chhattisgarh, which it rules, and Madhya Pradesh, where Congress had won 30 of 47 tribal seats in the 2018 Assembly polls, which had played a key role in its government formation then. BJP is trying to fill the gap fast there, and they have a support base as they had won 31 of 47 seats in the same region in the 2013 Assembly polls.

Many in the Congress circles are brooding over the gains to the party with Sinha's candidature, which the regional parties proposed after the first push from Trinamool Congress.

Taking a step back to ensure larger Opposition unity on the issue, Congress had refrained from pushing any name of its choice, particularly any Congress leader's name.

Immediately after the Opposition announced Sinha's name, RSS leader Indresh Kumar had mocked the Opposition parties for picking up a man "who has his roots in RSS, Jan Sangh."

Also Read: Many pointers in Presidential battle

In the 2017 Presidential polls, the Opposition had pitched former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar against NDA's Presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind. Since the Opposition's decision was announced after NDA had announced Kovind's candidature, Kumar's was a careful choice as the Opposition did not want to face criticism of being opposed to the election of a Dalit President Kovind.

Hence, it fell back on a prominent Dalit leader, late Jagjeevan Ram's daughter Meira Kumar to take on Kovind. A former IFS officer Meira, who served as Lok Sabha MP multiple times before becoming Lok Sabha Speaker was, however, critical of the Presidential battle being projected as Dalit versus Dalit, saying it amounted to undermining her contribution.

The same year the Opposition named Gopal Krishna Gandhi as its candidate against NDA's Presidential nominee M Venkaiah Naidu, a former BJP President with RSS roots. Many in the Opposition have described it as the battle of ideology between Gandhi and Godse.

There has been no such careful line of action from the Opposition camp this time, at least in the Presidential polls.

Also View: Presidential Election | Why Droupadi Murmu can win without a fight

With BSP backing Droupadi and JMM all set to do so, the objective seems to have failed. There is a likelihood of more from the Opposition camp announcing support for Droupadi. JDS leader H D Devegowda has already hailed her as a 'suitable and competent candidate', while another Janata Parivar leader and NDA's recalcitrant ally Nitish Kumar from JD(U) also hurriedly announced his support for the NDA nominee. This was a departure from his previous stand of voting against a candidate of the alliance to which he was a party.

In 2012 Kumar voted for UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee despite being in NDA, and in 2017 for NDA's Ram Nath Kovind despite heading a government with RJD and Congress in Bihar.

When Droupadi's candidature was announced, the Opposition's Presidential nominee Sinha, an astute politician, took pains to make it clear that this was "not a contest of individuals and that he had" great regard" Droupadi and wished her well in this election. "It is a battle between two opposing ideologies," he said.

Also Read: Have done much more for tribals than Murmu, proud to have served in Vajpayee's BJP: Yashwant Sinha

Sinha, in a letter to Opposition parties on Friday, said if elected, he would raise his voice for marginalised sections, farmers, youths and women and "will not allow the independence and integrity of democratic institutions to be weaponised against political opponents or the ongoing assaults on the Federal Structure of the Constitution."

Clearly, the coming days of the Presidential election campaign will see a lot of sound and fury from the Opposition camp.