On July 1, Mamata Banerjee took a liberal stand on Draupadi Murmu, saying that the situation would have been completely different if she had known about the NDA's candidature in advance. Mamata Banerjee had said, "If we had got the suggestion about the BJP candidate earlier, we could have discussed it in the all-party meeting. BJP had contacted us but did not tell about the candidate." The West Bengal Chief Minister had said, "If we had known that they were planning to field a tribal woman or someone from the minority community, we could have considered it. We have great respect for tribals and women. We had agreed on Abdul Kalam. There are 16-17 parties in our alliance and I can't step back unilaterally. There are other parties too."
Presidential Election 2022 Date
Voting for the presidential election is on July 18 and the result will be out on July 21. President Ram Nath Kovind's term ends on July 24 and according to the Constitution, the election of the new President should be completed before that.
liberal Stand of Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee has played an important role in making Yashwant Sinha the opposition candidate. Now the liberal stand of Mamata Banerjee regarding Draupadi Murmu is being discussed. Two reasons are being given for this:
- The tribal population in West Bengal and the BJP got a big victory in the tribal areas in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
- The second reason is that Draupadi Murmu is a woman and Mamata herself says that she is insistent about women.
It is being said that due to this remark of Mamata Banerjee about Draupadi Murmu, the MLAs and MPs of her party are in an uproar.
West Bengal BJP leaders Subhendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar have written to Mamata Banerjee seeking support for Draupadi Murmu. However, the Trinamool Congress has not formally responded to the request of the BJP leaders.
APJ Abdul Kalam VS Pranab Mukherjee
This is not the first time that Mamata Banerjee has changed her stand in the presidential election. Nearly a decade ago in 2012, the Trinamool Congress chief had demanded another term for APJ Abdul Kalam. But Abdul Kalam had made a condition that if all the parties agreed to his candidature, then only he would again become a candidate in the presidential election. In such a situation, Mamata Banerjee supported Congress candidate Pranab Mukherjee. When Pranab Mukherjee came to West Bengal for the first time after becoming the President, Mamata Banerjee had organized a party to welcome him.
Tribal Vote Bank in West Bengal
It is not yet clear whether Mamata Banerjee's liberal stand on Draupadi Murmu is due to tribal vote bank or some other issue. According to the 2011 census, the tribal population in West Bengal was 6%. This population is concentrated in South and North Bengal. It was Mamata Banerjee who started the campaign to unite the opposition in the presidential election. She had come to Delhi and had a meeting with representatives of 17 opposition parties on June 15. Congress was also involved in this. On June 21, on the same issue, instead of Mamata, her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had attended the opposition meeting.
Break-Up of Shiv Sena
After the break-up of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Eknath Shinde of the rebel camp forming the government with the BJP, many feel that Mamata Banerjee is no longer interested in the presidential election. Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra fell after Eknath Shinde became the Chief Minister with the support of BJP. It is to be noted that less than a week is left for the presidential election and Yashwant Sinha has not gone for an election campaign in West Bengal.
Other Party Leaders Reaction
Regarding Mamata Banerjee's remarks on Draupadi Murmu, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had said, "It was DIDI who was mobilizing the opposition in the presidential election. It was she who forwarded Sinha's name. Now she is trying to run away from her responsibilities. If she is taking U-turn, it means that she must have got a call from BJP. She must have been under the pressure of Prime Minister Modi. In this way too, she has a good relationship with Modi. Congress is with its ideology and that's why we are opposing BJP."
BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said, "She was absent when Yashwant Sinha filed her nomination. On the other hand, during the nomination of Draupadi Murmu, PM Modi, Amit Shah and other big leaders of BJP were also present. Mamata is now giving such a statement because she knows that defeat is certain. Mamata Banerjee works only for popularity. BJP had announced Murmu's name after Yashwant Sinha.
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty has said that no one had asked Mamata Banerjee to bring the entire opposition on one platform in the presidential election. Chakraborty said, "She did everything with her heart and is now trying to keep the opposition happy along with the BJP."
