Murmu will win Presidential polls comfortably: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday exuded confidence that NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu will comfortably win the election.

Murmu visited Patna during the day and met NDA leaders, including legislators and parliamentarians from the state, seeking their support for the presidential election scheduled on July 18.

"I am confident that Droupadi Murmu will comfortably win the presidential election. It is a matter of happiness that a tribal woman is running for the highest constitutional position of the country," Kumar told reporters after Murmu's meeting with NDA leaders here.

Murmu was given a rousing welcome when she reached Patna earlier in the day. Accompanied by Union ministers Sarbananda Sonowal and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, she arrived at Patna airport aboard a special flight at 11.13 AM.

Deputy Chief Ministers Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, Union minister Nityanand Rai, state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal and several state ministers received her at the Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport.

Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was also present at the airport.

The airport compound was decorated with flowers, while BJP workers lined up along the roads outside with party flags to welcome her.

Murmu kicked off her visit by garlanding a statue of legendary tribal leader Birsa Munda near the Secretariat building in the state capital.

After that, she went to a private hotel near Gandhi Maidan, where she met the chief minister and senior leaders of all NDA allies, including MPs and MLAs, and made an appeal for support.

"Leaders of all NDA allies including JD(U), Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) and Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras-led Rashtriya Lok Janshakati Party were present in the meeting," Bihar Information Technology Minister Jibesh Kumar Mishra said.

The special aircraft carrying her took off from Patna airport at 2.35 PM. She went to Agartala via Guwahati, he added.