Suresh Routray, a senior Congress MLA of Odisha, said here on Saturday that he would put up a formal proposal in party forum for sending Droupadi Murmu as a consensus candidate for the next President of India.
His comment came a day after Narasingha Mishra, Congress Legislative Party leader in the Assembly, clarified that the State unit of the Congress would toe the party line, although Ms. Murmu hails from Odisha.
“Ms. Murmu is a woman achiever, who was an MLA and Minister in Odisha, and had proved her mettle as Governor of Jharkhand. Moreover, she is Odia woman who was born in a tribal family. I personally feel if she is elected uncontested, it will set a good precedent,” said Mr. Routray.
“As an ordinary Congress worker, I will appeal to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to let Ms. Murmu be elected as consensus candidate,” he said.
The Congress lawmaker said he had already met Ms. Murmu and congratulated her personally. However, as a disciplined Congress worker, he would vote for Yashwant Sinha if the party issued a whip in this regard.
Mr. Mishra had said that the Congress was committed to voting for Mr. Sinha as his name was declared much before the National Democratic Alliance announced Ms. Murmu’s name.
The State unit of BJP had criticised the Odisha unit of Congress on Friday for not backing Ms. Murmu who was a “daughter of the soil”.
