Bhubaneswar, July 7 NDA presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu is scheduled to meet Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs and MPs here on Friday to get their support for her election on July 18.
A rousing welcome will be given to Murmu, who is daughter of Odisha, here after her arrival at the airport on Friday morning.
Murmu would meet the BJD MLAs and MPs at the Odisha Assembly conference hall at around 10.30 a.m. Murmu will meet the BJP legislators at the state Guest House, sources said.
She is also likely to meet BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the latter's residence Naveen Niwas.
"Murmu will attend a meeting of all BJD MLAs and MPs here at the Assembly at 10.30 a.m. The Chief Minister has already appealed to all legislators of Odisha to support her as she belongs to the state. We hope she will get a good response," said BJP MLA Amar Satpathy.
BJP legislator Jayant Sarangi said all elected members, irrespective of party, should support Murmu because it's about the motherland.
Independent MLA Makaranda Muduli, who has already announced his support for the NDA nominee, said: "We will give her a rousing welcome as she will be back to Odisha tomorrow."
However, Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra once again made it clear that his party members are not going to support Murmu in the election as the presidential election is being fought with policy and ideology.
"Yashwant Sinha is a son of Bihar. Will the BJP members from Bihar support him?" Mishra questioned while commenting on BJP's appeal.
Meanwhile, Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi said he will support Murmu as Odisha is proud of her nomination.
Once elected, she will bring glory for Odisha at international level, said Panigrahi, who is expelled from the BJD. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for selecting Murmu for the country's top post.
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