Nitish Kumar's JD(U) extends support to NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu

PATNA: Bihar's ruling JD(U) on Wednesday extended its support to NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
Expressing happiness over the announcement of Murmu as the NDA’s presidential candidate, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said selection of a tribal woman as candidate for the country’s highest post is a matter of great happiness.
Nitish said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him on Tuesday to inform that Murmu was being made the NDA candidate for the presidential election. “Heartiest thanks to the PM for selecting a tribal woman who has proven her mettle as a minister in Odisha and also during her gubernatorial stint in Jharkhand,” Nitish said in a statement on Wednesday.
JD(U) has 21 members in the Parliament and 52 MLAs in three states- Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. With 16 members in the Lok Sabha, JD(U) is the largest ally of the BJP in the national democratic alliance (NDA) at the Centre.
Just an hour before Nitish’s statement, JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said, “His party welcomes and supports the candidature of Droupadi Murmu for the presidential post.”
"Born in a poor family, tribal woman Smt Droupadi Murmu is a candidate in the presidential election. Bihar CM @NitishKumar has always been dedicated to the causes of women empowerment and the members of disadvantaged classes. ... JD(U) welcomes and supports the candidature of Smt Droupadi Murmu for the presidential post," Lalan Singh said in a series of two tweets posted in Hindi.
This is the first time in the last three presidential elections that Nitish’s JD(U) will extend support to the candidate of its own alliance. Twice in the past during presidential elections, Nitish Kumar had gone against the political alliance of which his JD(U) was a part.
First in 2012, JD(U) went against the BJP-led NDA, despite being in the NDA, to support the Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee.
Again in 2017, the JD(U) voted for the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind despite being a member of the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) comprising the RJD and the Congress. Then, Nitish had argued that he supported the NDA candidate Kovind because he was the Bihar governor before being declared candidate for the President’s post.