Presidential election: OP Rajbhar, Shivpal Yadav & Uma Shankar announce support for Murmu

In the latest update pertaining to the upcoming presidential election, after Samajwadi Party's (SP's) key ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) attended a dinner hosted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in honour of NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu in Lucknow, the parties have confirmed their support to Murmu, ANI reported.

This development becomes more significant as Rajbhar on Thursday did not attend a press conference held by SP's chief Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary in support of Yashwant Sinha, a joint candidate of the Opposition parties for the upcoming presidential election. It is pertinent to mention that Akhilesh's uncle and PSP chief Shivpal Singh Yadav also attended the dinner hosted by CM Yogi in honour of Murmu.

Notably, Rajbhar and Shivpal's support for NDA's presidential candidate is seen as a crack in Uttar Pradesh's opposition as they fought with SP against NDA in the state assembly election of 2022.

Raja Bhaiya's Jansatta Dal Loktantrik to support Droupadi Murmu

Though the key ally partners of SP-- Rajbhar and Shivpal avoided talking to reporters, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias 'Raja Bhaiya' of the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik party, who also attended the dinner, said that his party will support Murmu in the presidential elections. "In today's condition, selecting Draupadi Murmu as a candidate for President is very important. This is why political parties other than BJP are also supporting her. Both our MLAs will support her," Raja Bhaiya told reporters. 

According to reports, on Rajbhar and Shivpal's party supporting Murmu, Raja Bhaiya said that both of them had said to support  NDA's candidate at the meeting. However, later he told reporters to confirm the same from Rajbhar and Shivpal. It is pertinent to mention that BSP who also attended the function has already declared to support Murmu.

NDA leaders to meet in Delhi ahead of Presidential election

Ahead of the presidential elections, NDA leaders will meet in the national capital on Sunday evening, according to sources. The NDA leaders' meeting will be taking place ahead of the Parliament's monsoon session and presidential poll which is slated to take place on July 18. 

According to ANI sources, the meeting will hold a detailed discussion on the strategy of the NDA leaders. During this meeting, all the MPs from both houses of the NDA will explain the process of participating in the election and a mock drill of the entire process will also be conducted to make all members understand the process, sources said. They also revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be participating in the meeting. The meeting of NDA leaders will be followed by a dinner.