A four-person team went to meet the tribal Congress MLA from Rajgangpur, CS Razeen Ekka, and asked him to support Murmu.
On Wednesday, teams of leaders from the ruling party visited the homes of Congress MLAs in an effort to secure votes for Droupadi Murmu, the NDA’s presidential candidate.
CS Razeen Ekka, a Congress MLA from Rajgangpur, was approached by a four-person team that included Minister of State for Home Tushar Kanti Behera, Minister of State for Skill Development Priti Ranjan Gharai, and two lawmakers Snehangini Behera and Raj Kishore Das to ask for his support for Murmu.
The BJD team pleaded with the Congress lawmaker to back Murmu, a daughter of the land, in order to guarantee her victory with a wide margin. The BJD team asked Ekka to support the NDA presidential candidate, who is the first tribal person to run for the highest position in the land, because he is a tribal member.
Ekka, however, informed the BJD delegation that the BJP and Congress adhere to very distinct beliefs. There is no question of supporting Murmu because the party has already declared its support for Yashwant Sinha, the nominee of the unified Opposition, he said.
Separate BJD representatives, including former minister Badri Narayan Patro and water resources minister Tukuni Sahu, went to Santosh Singh Saluja, the deputy leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP), and asked him to back Murmu.
When the delegation visited Saluja’s home to ask for a vote for Murmu, Saluja said he would let the high leadership know. He added that endorsing the BJP-backed candidate was out of the question. A team from the party led by senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra also went to Tara Prasad Bahinipati, the Congress whip in the Assembly, to ask for his support for Murmu. By asking for votes for Murmu, the BJD, according to Bahinipati, is staging a play.
Saluja told the delegation that he will inform the high command about their visit to his residence seeking vote for Murmu. He also said that there was no question of supporting the BJP-sponsored candidate. Besides, a team led by senior vice-president of the party Debi Prasad Mishra also visited the official residence of Congress whip in the Assembly Tara Prasad Bahinipati to seek his support for Murmu. Bahinipati told mediapersons that the BJD is enacting a drama by seeking votes for Murmu.
Meanwhile, president of the OPCC Sarat Pattanayak said he has discussed the issue with CLP leader Narasingh Mishra. A CLP meeting will be called before the Presidential election on July 18 to discuss strategy about the election.
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