Next President of India: Thawar Chand Gehlot or Draupadi Murmu?

The opposition on the other hand has proposed the name of former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi.

D-Along with Draupadi Murmu, the other name doing the rounds for the next President of India is that of Thawar Chand Gehlot. The minister for Social Justice and Empowerment in the Narendra Modi government at the centre is a prospective candidate being pitched by the BJP to contest the Presidential poll in July.

Draupadi Murmu or Gehlot

The names of Murmu and Gehlot are being proposed by the BJP to consolidate its backward vote bank. At a recent BJP-RSS meet, the the latter said that the name of a dalit or tribal leader must be considered.

While a majority are in favour of Draupadi Murmu taking over as the next President of India, the BJP are also contemplating selecting Gehlot. The BJP feels that since Murmu is a dalit tribal leader, the opposition may find it hard to counter their choice. She hails from Odisha and this would also ensure that the BJD would not oppose her candidature.

BJP wants backward candidate

The BJP is also thinking of fielding Gehlot a backward leader. The Union Social Justice minister's name had cropped up during several discussions that the BJP held. These are two candidates that the opposition would find it hard to say no to many in the BJP believe.

The opposition on the other hand has proposed the name of former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi. The opposition also has said that it would not oppose Pranab Mukherjee getting a second term, but also added that they would not be the ones to propose the name first.

Who is Draupadi Murmu?

She is currently the Governor of Jharkhand. Her career in politics spans over 2 decades. She will be the first tribal to be the President of India. She is the daughter of late Biranchi Narayan Tudu. Hailing from Odisha, she was also a former minister in the government there.

Draupadi Murmu was awarded the best MLA of the year award by the Odisha Legislative Assembly. In 2007 Droupadi Murmu was awarded 'Nilakantha Award. She was elected as a councillor in 1997 and went on to become the vice-chairperson of the Rairangpur NAC.

She was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly, Rairangpur, Odisha and then went on to become Minister of State. Between 2002 and 2009, she remained the National Executive Member of the ST Morcha, BJP.

Who is Tarun Chand Gehlot?

Thawar Chand Gehlot born on 18 May 1948 is the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in the Union Government led by Narendra Modi. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha representing the state of Madhya Pradesh. He formerly represented Shajapur in the lower house of Indian Parliament, Lok Sabha from 1996 to 2009. He is a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and general secretary of the party.

Gopal Krishna Gandhi

The opposition has been suggesting the name of Gopal Krishna Gandhi. Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the governor of West Bengal between 2004 and 2009. It may be recalled that after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India, he had written an open letter.

Born April 22 1946, he is an Indian civil servant and a diplomat. As a former member of the Indian Administrative Service he has also served as the secretary to the President of India. He was also high commissioner to South Africa and Sri Lanka.

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