On July 1, Mamata Banerjee took a moderate stance on Draupadi Murmu, saying the situation would have been completely different had she known about the NDA’s candidature in advance. Mamta Banerjee had said, “If we had got the suggestion about the BJP candidate earlier, we could have discussed it in the all-party meeting. The BJP had approached us but didn’t tell us 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 a minority community, So we could have pondered over it. We have a lot of respect for tribals and women. We agreed on Abdul Kalam. We have 16-17 parties in our alliance and I can’t take unilateral steps. There are other parties too.”
Presidential Election 2022 Date
Voting for the presidential election is on July 18 and the results will be out on July 21. President Ram Nath Kovind’s term ends on July 24 and according to the Constitution, a new President should be elected before that.
Mamata Banerjee’s liberal stand
Mamta Banerjee has played an important role in making Yashwant Sinha the candidate of the opposition. Now the liberal stand of Mamta 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 Mamta herself says that she insists on women.
It is being said that this remark of Mamta Banerjee about Draupadi Murmu has stirred the MLAs and MPs of her party.
West Bengal BJP leaders Shubhendu 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, Mamta Banerjee supported Congress candidate Pranab Mukherjee. When Pranab Mukherjee came to West Bengal for the first time after becoming the President, Mamta Banerjee had organized a party to welcome him.
Tribal Vote Bank in West Bengal
It is not yet clear whether Mamata Banerjee’s moderate stance on Draupadi Murmu is due to tribal vote bank or some other issue. As of 2011 India census, the tribal population in West Bengal was 6%. This population is concentrated in South and North Bengal. It was Mamta Banerjee who started the campaign to unite the opposition in the presidential election. She had come to Delhi and had a meeting with the representatives of 17 opposition parties on June 15. Congress was also involved in this. On June 21, instead of Mamta, her nephew and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee had attended the opposition meeting on this issue.
disintegration of shivsena
After the break-up of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Eknath Shinde of the rebel camp that formed the government with the BJP, many feel that Mamata Banerjee is no longer interested in the presidential election. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra fell after Eknath Shinde became the chief minister with the support of the BJP. Significantly, less than a week is left for the presidential election and Yashwant Sinha has not gone to West Bengal to campaign.
Other party leaders’ reaction
Regarding Mamata Banerjee’s remarks on Draupadi Murmu, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had said, “It was DIDI that was mobilizing the opposition in the presidential election. She had forwarded Sinha’s name. Now she is running away from her responsibilities.” If she is taking a U-turn, it means she must have got a call from BJP. She must have been under the pressure of PM Modi. Thus she has good relations with Modi too. Congress is based on its ideology. We are together and that’s why we are opposing the 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. Mamta is giving this now. statement because she knows 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 asked Mamata Banerjee to bring the entire opposition on one platform in the presidential election. Chakraborty said, “She did everything from her heart and is now trying to please the BJP as well as the opposition.”