The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) extended its support to the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu at a strategy committee meeting chaired by N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday.
Underscoring the party’s commitment to uplifting the downtrodden and the marginalised, Mr. Naidu said the TDP’s support to Ms. Murmu was in tune with its endorsement of the candidature of K.R. Narayanan, a Dalit, and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a Muslim, for the President’s post.
“The TDP was instrumental in electing G.M.C. Balayogi, who belonged to the Scheduled Castes, as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and electing K. Pratibha Bharati as the Speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The TDP had also elevated K. Yerran Naidu as Union Minister. This proves the TDP’s commitment to social justice,” Mr. Naidu said in a press release.
The TDP had also thrown its weight behind P.V. Narasimha Rao when the Congress chose him for the Prime Minister’s post, Mr. Naidu recalled.
The TDP’s decision to support Ms. Murmu’s candidature came on the eve of her meeting with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRCP MPs and MLAs.
It was for the first time in the history of Independent India that a tribal woman was being nominated for the President’s post, which is why the YSRCP is backing her candidature for the coveted post, a recent press release from the Chief MInister’s Office said.
