Santhali Trinamool MLA questions Draupadi Murmu's tribal status

Kolkata, July 18:  When the BJP announced Draupadi Murmu's candidature as the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) presidential candidate, people said that fielding a woman candidate and that too with a tribal background was a real political masterstroke. However, on Monday, as polling for the election of the new president was being conducted, a woman Santhali legislator from West Bengal raised questions about the authenticity of Murmu's tribal status.

The legislator raising this question is actress-turned- politician and the Trinamool Congress legislator from Jhargram assembly constituency, Beerbaha Hansda, who had won a number of awards earlier for her acting skills, namely Santhali Filmfare Award and RASCA Award.

On Monday, as she came to the assembly to cast her vote in the Presidential election, Hasda said that the BJP has been misleading the people about the tribal background of the NDA's presidential candidate. "As a woman coming from a tribal background, I can say that in the religion column we write 'Sari'. But Draupadi Murmu mentions her religion as Hindu. We Santhals are not Hindus. Why did the BJP not field someone whose religion is Sari. Why are they resorting to false propaganda?" Hansda asked.

Soon after Draupadi Murmu's name was announced, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that she would have been positive about Murmu's candidature as a tribal woman had the BJP informed her earlier. However, now a legislator from her own party, who is also a tribal woman, is raising questions about the tribal status of Murmu.

When contacted, BJP state spokesman Shamik Bhattacharya refused to comment on the point raised by Beerbaha Hansda.

The tribal vote bank is a deciding factor in seven out of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal. Since 1977 it was a committed Left vote bank, with some influence of Congress in certain pockets. In the 2011 West Bengal assembly polls, the same voters shifted substantially towards the Trinamool Congress. However, since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has made a substantial dent in that vote bank.