The MLAs of Odisha Congress will not support NDA’s Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, said Odisha parliamentary party leader, Narasingha Mishra.
As Murmu is inspired by the RSS ideology, Congress will never support her candidature for the position of a constitutional head, he said.
“Moreover, the opposition parties at the Centre including the Congress have already chosen its candidate for the Presidential elections. So there is no point in turning back on our candidate and support another at this time,” he said.
Mishra took a jibe at CM Naveen Patnaik who had called upon to all the MLAs urging them to support Murmu as she is from Odisha.
Mishra said, “If Naveen Patnaik has so much sympathy for Odia people, why did he send a non-Odia to Rajya Sabha? Did not he find any Odia suitable for the Upper House?”
Though Mishra avoided mentioning the name of Non-Odia Rajya Sabha member he was referring to Ashwini Vaishnaw, current Railway Minister.
It is pertinent to mention here that, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha emerged as the consensus Presidential candidate of 13 opposition parties, including the Congress, the TMC and the Samajwadi Party as opposed to NDA’s Draupadi Murmu.
Five regional parties considered non-aligned - TRS, BJD, AAP, SAD and YSRCP -- stayed away. These parties had also stayed away from the June 15 meeting convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Earlier, clearing the air over BJD’s stand on the upcoming Presidential election, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday had appealed to all members of Odisha Legislative Assembly to extend unanimous support to elect the daughter of Odisha – Draupadi Murmu to the country’s highest office.