The Legislative Party of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Friday decided to support NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu in the election to be held on July 18.
The Legislative Party’s decision follows the visit of Ms. Murmu to the residence of former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda recently seeking the party support for her candidature. She had also spoken to Mr. Gowda on phone soon after her selection as presidential candidate.
The JDLP on Friday was held in the absence of its leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 and party State president C.M. Ibrahim, who is busy with his daughter’s wedding.
“It was H.D. Deve Gowda who took the historical decision to create reservation for women. It is a matter of pride that a tribal woman is becoming the president of the country. This is in line with Mr. Gowda’s aspiration,” Deputy Leader of JDLP Bandeppa Kashempur told reporters here after the meeting. “Considering Ms. Murmu’s background and the community that she represents, the JD(S) has decided to vote for her. The decision has been taken not on part lines but keeping the candidate as a yardstick,” he added.
The party that was set to launch the ‘Janata Mitra’ programme on July 17 has decided to defer it by 10 days owing to Mr. Kumaraswamy being in isolation, Mr. Kashempur added.
