Presidential poll is contest of ideology, say Bihar Oppn leaders

Patna, July 13

On BJP-led NDA fielding Draupadi Murmu as its presidential nominee, the opposition leaders on Wednesday asserted that the election is not a question of identity but a contest of ideology.

"If we see the track record of BJP, they have not taken any initiative to uplift the tribals, extremely backward class, and the deprived class. On the other hand, the RJD or other parties of Mahagathbandhan always thought about them. Now, BJP has put a tribal face and is forcing us to support her. Why has it not asked all parties to come to a mutual consensus on one name for the presidential candidate?" asked Mritunjay Tiwari, national spokesperson of RJD.

"Our leader Tejashwi Yadav said had the NDA announced Draupadi Murmu's name first, he would have given it a thought but BJP has an ideology (influenced by Hitler) to impose its policy on people. So we are again saying that our contest is not with Draupadi Murmu but we are fighting against the BJP and its policies," Tiwari said.

Tejashwi Yadav and leaders of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar have unanimously decided to support their candidate Yashwant Sinha. He is scheduled to visit Bihar on July 15 for the presidential poll campaign.

Mahboob Alam, MLA of CPI(ML) said: "BJP is doing politics of symbolism. It has nothing to do with the people of the tribal community. The left parties on the other hand live among tribal communities. BJP is putting the face of Draupadi Murmu to gain support of opposition parties. We are against BJP and its ideology. We are firmly standing with Yashwant Sinha and will support him on the day of polling on July 18."

As of now, the NDA candidate is ahead in the presidential poll.

Members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Assemblies are the eligible voters for the presidential poll.

In Bihar, 56 MPs and 243 MLAs will participate in the presidential poll to do the voting. The vote value of one MP is 700 while the vote value of MLA is 173.

The total votes values of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and MLA of Bihar is 81239 including MLAs have 42039 vote value and MPs of both the houses have 39200.

BJP has the highest votes in Bihar. It has 23 Lok Sabha MPs and 77 MLAs. The total vote value of BJP in Bihar is 28,721. JD-U has 22,485 vote values with 47 MLAs and 16 Lok Sabha MPs. RJD has 17,340 vote values with 80 MLAs, Congress has 4,687 vote values with 19 MLAs. Left parties have 2,768 with 16 MLAs and AIMIM 173 vote values with one MLA in Bihar.