Eastern promises: Draupadi Murmu's rock solid alliance

CHENNAI: Last week, the BJP-led NDA’s presidential nominee, Droupadi Murmu met the MPs and MLAs of the AIADMK, BJP and its allies during her visit to Tamil Nadu. Two weeks ago, Murmu had filed her nomination papers in the Rajya Sabha secretariat in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders. Murmu who seems to be comfortably placed thanks to the support of regional parties and a rock solid alliance, had also sought the support of opposition parties, in an attempt to reach a consensus for India’s next president. None of the Opposition leaders had assured her support considering they had named Yashwant Sinha as their nominee. If elected, Murmu will be India’s first tribal president and only the second woman to assume the president’s office. She might also be the country’s youngest president ever, preceded only by N Sanjeeva Reddy, who was just a few days older than her when he took on the president’s office.

In picking the former Jharkhand governor as its presidential candidate, the ruling party has sent out a political signal – a move that the Opposition has failed at, when it comes to representation of Adivasis in the electoral college, or that of politicians from the east. Murmu had previously served as an MLA and a minister in Odisha before taking over as the governor of Jharkhand, a profile that brought her attention on the national panorama. Despite comprising 50% of India’s population, women are under-represented in the Parliament and legislatures. So Murmu’s nomination is being viewed by members of the Adivasi communities as a shot in the arm for addressing issues such as their social and economic marginalisation.

Her candidature has also been propelled considering the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where she is being seen as a catalyst in drawing Adivasis into the BJP camp. The BJP might have witnessed the loss of the tribal vote during the assembly elections held in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. But numbers released by the Lokniti CSDS National Election Study 2019 also say that 44% Advivasis voted for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The Congress on the other hand managed to bag just about 31% of the tribal votes, pan-India. Participation of Adivasis in the electoral exercise has also improved over the past few years, as about 72% voted in the 2019 LS election compared to the national average of 62%.

Some political observers believe Murmu’s nomination is a continuing experiment in the context of identity politics that has extended its wings to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The political due diligence being followed now in Indian polity has witnessed the appointments of KR Narayanan (2002) and Ram Nath Kovind, both from Dalit communities to the nation’s highest constitutional office.

Experts opine that keeping in mind the 2024 Lok Sabha election, BJP has embarked upon far-sighted measures to consolidate its vote bank in the east of India, where it is yet to make inroads. Eastern states with a sizable chunk of the tribal population such as Jharkhand (26%) as well as Odisha (24%) and the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh (30%) are now in the crosshairs of the ruling party.

To Murmu’s advantage, she was recently backed by the AIADMK, as well as Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Andhra Pradesh’s YSRCP. In all fairness, this has ensured smooth sailing for her to the gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan. What remains to be seen is whether Murmu manages to transcend the status of being yet another rubber stamp president and a pawn in the hands of the BJP vis-a-vis the party’s political aspirations in the east in 2024, or whether she shakes up the status quo and holds her own, while actually taking a stand for tribal representation.