The decision came at JD(S) legislature party meeting that took place on Friday during a virtual meeting of leaders.
On the recent Karnataka visit of Draupadi Murmu, she met former Prime Minister and JDS chief HD Deve Gowda and sought support for the presidential election on July 18. (Supplied)
The Janata Dal (Secular) on Friday, 15 July, became the latest non-NDA party to officially extended its support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu, in what is being seen as a veritable crack in the united face that the national-level Opposition parties had put forward in 2018.
Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy announced the party’s “unanimous” decision to support Murmu citing former prime minister and his father HD Devegowda’s push for women’s representation in Parliament and administration.
The decision came at the virtually-held JD(S) legislature party meeting that took place on Friday.
During her recent Karnataka visit, Murmu met JD(S) chief Devegowda and sought his support for the Presidential election, scheduled for 18 July.
JD(S) legislature party Kumaraswamy tweeted a thread justifying his party’s decision to support the NDA candidate.
He explained that when Devegowda was the prime minister, he pushed for reservations for women in jobs.
It was a matter of pride that for the first time an Adivasi woman was going to be the President of India, he wrote.
ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪತಿ ಚುನಾವಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೀಮತಿ ದ್ರೌಪದಿ ಮುರ್ಮು ಅವರನ್ನು ಬೆಂಬಲಿಸಲು @JanataDal_S ಸರ್ವಾನುಮತದ ನಿರ್ಣಯ ಕೈಗೊಂಡಿದೆ.
ವಿಧಾನಸೌಧದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಶಾಸಕಾಂಗ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಮಹತ್ವದ ನಿರ್ಣಯ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಕೋವಿಡ್ ಪಾಸಿಟಿವ್ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ ನಾನು ವರ್ಚುಯಲ್ ವೇದಿಕೆ ಮೂಲಕ ಈ ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡಿದ್ದೆ. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/GLYYsifaYf
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) July 15, 2022
He said the day Murmu was announced as the NDA’s Presidential candidate, he called Devegowda and sought his support.
The JD(S) announced its support to her keeping her background and community, said Kumaraswami, adding that the Presidential polls should be above party politics.
By extending its support to Murmu, the JD(S) has become one of the first Opposition parties from South India to support the NDA’s presidential candidate.
The move comes at a time when the Congress has been accusing the JD(S) of being the BJP’s B-team in Karnataka.
The Congress’ allegations came after the local party’s refusal to join hands with it for the Rajya Sabha polls helped the BJP win three out of four seats from Karnataka in the Upper House.
The decision of the JD(S) to back Murmu is significant, given its history with other non-NDA parties.
Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony as the chief minister of Karnataka in 2018 was touted as a show of Opposition strength.
File photo: Leaders of opposition parties sharing stage at HD Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony in 2018. (Supplied)
On a grand stage set up on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha — Karnataka’s Assembly building — in Bengaluru, Kumarasamy took oath as chief minister of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government as a host of leaders from national-level Opposition parties — like Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejaswi Yadav, Chandrababu Naidu, D Raja, and even Sonia and Rahul Gandhi — shared the stage.
The Congress-JD(S) government collapsed after 14 months, and the BJP assumed power in the state.
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