Murmu has better chances to win, Mamta, Cong criticise TMC supremo

Congress and CPM has criticided West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo for taking U-turn on NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu. Ms Banerjee on Friday said in Kolkata that she could have considered Draupadi Murmu, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s nominee for the presidential polls, as the consensus candidate had the BJP consulted her over the nomination. “Had we known that they were planning to field a tribal lady, a member of a minority community, we could have thought about it. We have great respect for people from the tribal community and for women,” Banerjee said. She acknowled Murmu has a better chance of winning. She further said that Murmu's chances to win the polls has increased after the political development in Maharashtra. The TMC supremo said that she “will go by what the opposition parties decide”.

Reacting to Banerjee’s comments, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said she must be under pressure from the BJP. “It was Didi [Banerjee] who tried to thrust her decision on others. It was she who suggested Sinha’s name. Now she is trying to shed her responsibility. If she has taken a U-turn, it means she received a call from the BJP. He added Congress is in this contest because it opposes the BJP. “It is a matter of principle for us.” Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sujan Chakraborty said nobody asked Banerjee to bring all parties under one umbrella on this issue. “She forced her way in. Now, she is trying to keep the BJP as well as the Opposition parties happy.”

In June, Banerjee tried to bring non-BJP parties on a common platform and to put up a joint candidate for the polls. Yashwant Sinha,  who resigned from Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), is the candidate of the Opposition parties for the polls. Sinha agreed to contest after the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and former Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi turned down the requests to contest the polls.