Even as the counting of votes for the President of India elections 2022 draws near, controversies concerning former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu, the NDA's Presidential nominee and apparently the strongest contender, have continued to roll in. The tribal leader from Odisha, who has previously been accused of being a "dummy" and a "statue" by Opposition leaders, is not in the eye of another row for an alleged poll code violation complaint filed by Congress.
Why Congress has moved EC against Murmu
The Congress' Karnataka unit on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against Murmu and others alleging violations of the provisions of law in the July 18 election and accusing BJP of bribing MLAs to vote for Murmu. The complaint comes days after the voting for the Presidential elections on July 18.
The party alleged that the ruling BJP in Karnataka bribed and exerted undue influence on its MLAs on July 17 and 18, ahead of the voting. The Congress Legislative Party leader Siddaramaiah and state party president D K Shivakumar in their complaint alleged that the MLAs, who were the voters, were provided luxurious lodging in a five-star hotel and freebies amounting to bribery which is a violation of the model code of conduct.
They alleged that at the "instance and consent" of the NDA candidate (Murmu), Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, BJP senior leader B S Yediyurappa, the BJP chief whip in the Assembly Sathish Reddy, the ministers and other senior leaders of BJP joined together and summoned all the MLAs of BJP to a five-Star hotel here and provided luxurious rooms, food, liquor, beverages, entertainment in the guise of training session for MLAs on voting in the presidential election.
The leaders further said that on July 18 morning, almost all the ministers, MLAs and other senior leaders of the BJP came in a government-owned Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s air-conditioned bus from the hotel to Vidhana Soudha to exercise their electoral rights.
“All these acts of the BJP leaders are nothing but bribery and undue influence on the voters/MLAs made on behalf Droupadi Murmu for the furtherance of the prospectus of the election,” they alleged.
By these acts, the complaint said that the BJP leadership has interfered with the free exercise of the electoral rights of the voters or MLAs, and a huge amount was spent on them in a five-star hotel.
The leaders appealed to the ECI to take cognisance of the “electoral offenses committed by the NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, Bommai, Yediyurappa, Kateel and Reddy”.
They also demanded filing a criminal case against them under various sections of the IPC along with the provisions of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election Act, 1952.
Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar also asked the EC to direct the Returning Officer of the Presidential election to treat all the votes polled in favour of the NDA candidate as invalid “in the interest of free and fair election”.
Dogged by attacks
Murmu, who has been pegged by many political observers as the top contender in the race for the next President of India, has been dogged by numerous accusations and brickbats from Opposition leaders since her name was announced as the NDA's candidate. Following her nomination, the Congress unit from Puducherry hit out at the former teacher, claiming that Murmu would be a "dummy President" if she won.
Congree leader Ajoy Kumar also stoked controversy after he claimed that Murmu represented an "evil philosophy" and should not be seen as sybol for Adivasis. He later retracted the comment claiming that he always thought of Murmu as a "decent" woman and that his barbs were intended as a dig for the BJP-RSS ideology and not Murmu herself.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also echoed Congress recently after he said that he did not want a "statue in Rashtrapati Bhawan" and also claimed that no one had ever heard Murmu's voice.
Murmu is in the race for becoming the first tribal woman to be elected as President of India in which she is pitted against the joint Opposition candidate and former TMC leader Yashwant Sinha.
While the results of the elections are awaited on Thursday, (July 21), many have predicted a victory for Murmu due to the fact that her victory would set a visible benchmark of the progress of the Adivasi population of India under the present government in what could turn out to be a masterstroke for the BJP.
Murmu has found support not only within NDA but also from certain Opposition leaders. Following the July 18 elections, political circles were left agog after an Odisha Congress MLA from Barabati-Cuttack, Mohammad Moquim, announced that he voted for NDA nominee Murmu, defying the party line.
“I cast my vote in favour of Odisha’s Daughter Murmu as per my conscience and there was no pressure for that. Many eminent persons and Odia friends staying abroad had also suggested that I support her."
Sinha, on the other hand, has stated that the country saw a “silent president” in the past five years, and asserted that the misuse of central agencies will be stopped if he is elected the president. Sinha has also accused Murmu of being a 'rubberstamp Rashtrapati', a comment which drew a sharp reaction from the BJP which claimed it to be an attack on Adivasi women.
(With inputs from PTI)
