Having registered its victory in the last few rounds of state assembly polls, the BJP high command is on a high. Keen to prove its strength in the electoral arena, the party is braced up to launch its own candidate as the president of India. Even though the opposition is toiling hard to get their own candidates through for the upcoming presidential polls, the ruling NDA is confident that their candidate will bag at least 54% of votes. If things go as planned, the party will soon achieve political supremacy in India.
If the party leadership is to be believed, BJP is riding high on the ‘Modi wave’. Moved by PM Nadrendra Modi’s efforts, Indian citizens are partial towards the NDA government, the momentum, of which will be visible soon. The party will leave no stone unturned to ensure that its presidential nominee wins the election with a thumping majority.
For those who don’t know, 10, 98,882 votes contribute to the total vote bank of presidential Electoral College. Out of these, the majority mark is set at 5,49,442 votes. Nevertheless, BJP claims that they’ll win 54% (that is 5,93,000 votes).
The list of prospective BJP presidential candidates include—
- Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu,
- Union minister for entrepreneurship and social development Mr. Thawar Chand Gehlot,
- Lok Sabha speaker Ms. Sumitra Mahajan,
- Former Chief Justice of India and Governor of Kerala Mr. P. Sathasivam,
- Senior BJP leaders Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi and L.K. Advani.
All candidates barring Mr. Joshi and Mr. Advani have a ‘clean’ political image before the public. The Supreme Court’s judgment in the infamous Babri case may shatter their dreams.
Contrary to this, the UPA will be launching the following candidates in the political arena—
- Current president of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee,
- Former Additional Solicitor General of India Mr. Fali Nariman,
- Former West Bengal governor Mr. Gopal Krishna Gandhi,
- NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) chief Mr. Sharad Pawar,
- Senior JDU leader Mr. Sharad Yadav.
Both BJP and Congress are trying their best to please south Indian parties. While DMK is inclined toward Congress, AIADMK and TRS are likely to support Modi government. In the light of the recent events, most of the Congress leaders like former PM Manmohan Singh, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Congress VP Rahul Gandhi and leaders, such as Kanimozhi etc are already facing corruption charges.
Despite this, leaders like Mamata Banerjee (current West Bengal chief minister) are interesting in forming a small committee to supervise the nomination process of presidential candidate. She was one of the leaders who attended Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s luncheon, along with leaders from 17 other parties.
As elections are approaching near, the race for presidentship is getting intense with every day. ‘Kaun banega Bharat ka rashtrapati’ is the hottest topic of discussion this year.
