Droupadi Murmu

Shiv Sena MP and Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut indicated this while interacting with the media, saying party President Uddhav Thackeray will announce his decision in a day or so. "Backing Murmu does not mean supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party. The decision will be taken keeping in view the public sentiments," Raut made it clear, amid a clamour from its former saffron ally to toe its (BJP) line.

Yashwant Sinha also questioned the silence of the current President on vital issues and said, "If we talk about the last five years, it was a period of silence in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. We saw a silent President." Sinha also said that his former party BJP is dead and gone. However, he termed former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a consensus builder who always consulted the Opposition. "Politics based on consensus has ended and now it is the era of politics of confrontation," he said.

"The Congress has already decided to vote for Yashwant Sinha and our party workers will accompany him during his visit to the state," Borah said. The Assam Congress has also decided to invite in Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi and CPI-M leader Manoranjan Talukdar to join the campaign for Sinha. However, it is learnt that APCC has not invited any other political party of the state in this campaign spree.

It is learnt that in his address Prime Minister Modi spoke about ruling alliance's Presidential candidate Murmu. Sources said that Prime Minister Modi also told the BJP National Executive Committee members that it was indeed an honour for India to get its first tribal woman president if Murmu is elected in the coming days, adding that her candidature stands over and above any politics. Sources said the Prime Minister spoke very highly of NDA's Presidential candidate and talked about her humble beginning and struggle throughout her life.

In just six years between 2009 and 2015, Murmu lost her husband, two sons, mother and brother. She had three children -- two sons and a daughter. One of her sons died in 2009 and the second son died in a road accident three years later. Earlier, she lost her husband Shyam Charan Murmu due to cardiac arrest. Her daughter Itishree works in a bank in Odisha.

Hailing the nomination of the first tribal and also a woman for the post of the President, YSRCP declared its support to her. Chief Minister and YSRCP leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, however, will not be travelling to Delhi to be present during the filing of nomination by Murmu. The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement on Thursday night that Jagan Mohan Reddy will not be present during filing of nomination due to the State Cabinet meeting which was already scheduled.

Odisha's ST & SC Development and Law Minister Jagannath Saraka and Water Resources, Commerce & Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu have left for the national capital and they will sign on the nomination papers of Murmu as the proposers. The BJD took this move after BJP President J.P. Nadda spoke to Patnaik in this regard.

Patnaik, who is in Rome now, made this appeal on Twitter. "Appeal all the members of Odisha Legislative Assembly, cutting across party lines, to extend unanimous support to elect the daughter of #Odisha - Smt #DraupadiMurmu to the country's highest office," he tweeted, clearly indicating that his party will support the NDA candidate in the race for Raisina Hill.