Who is Droupadi Murmu, the NDA's presidential candidate?

Days after speculation over who will be the presidential candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition, we finally have two names.

While the Opposition has gone with former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, the NDA seems to have played a masterstroke by naming Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader of the party from Odisha, as their candidate.

BJP president JP Nadda on Tuesday announced her name at a press conference after a meeting of the party leaders.

President Ram Nath Kovind's five-year term ends on 24 July. The election is scheduled to be held on July 18 and the counting of votes will take place on July 21.

WHO IS SHE?

• Born in the Santhal community, Murmu started her career as a teacher. She began her political career as a councillor in Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat of Odisha's Mayurbhanj district in 1997. Murmu rose through the ranks and became a minister in the BJD-BJP alliance government in Odisha in 2000.
• A two-term former MLA from Rairangpur, Murmu held on to her assembly seat in 2009 when the BJD had snapped ties with the BJP weeks ahead of the state elections which were swept by CM Naveen Patnaik's party, reported PTI.
• In 2015 she became the first woman governor of Jharkhand. If she goes on to win the elections, which is highly likely, not only will she become the first tribal president of India, she will also be the first president to be born after independence.
• If Murmu wins, she will also become the second woman president of India after Pratibha Patil.
• In 2017, Murmu had stopped the BJP government’s plan to amend land tenancy acts in Jharkhand. She had returned the bills introduced to amend the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act. Tribals of Jharkhand had aggressively opposed the proposed amendments to the CNT & SPT Acts, reported India Today.

BJP'S MASTERSTROKE

• Just by looking at the presidential choices of the NDA and the Opposition you can figure out why the BJP has been unstoppable in elections of all kinds.
• The Opposition went on with Yashwant Sinha's name after NCP president Sharad Pawar, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah and former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi refused to be the presidential candidate. While there were many rumours, no one was able to guess the name of NDA's candidate until the name of Murmu was announced.
• It looks like the Opposition has gone with whatever choice they were left with, while NDA's choice seems like a well-thought move which will have its impact in many states. The BJP also discussed the choice with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik before announcing the name of Murmu. This makes BJP's ties with the BJD even stronger.
• The move also may have electoral impact in states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and most states in the northeast where there is a significant tribal population. It could also help the BJP in the upcoming Gujarat polls as the state has 14% tribal population.
• It could also help the party in states like Chhattisgarh, where the BJP in the last assembly elections. Chhattisgarh has a more than 30% tribal population.
• Also, even though BJP already had the numbers, by naming Murmu, a widely respected leader across all parties, they have made the presidential poll almost one-sided.

WHAT DID MURMU SAY?

Murmu said she was both surprised and delighted on learning on television that she had been nominated for the top job by the NDA.

'As a tribal woman from remote Mayurbhanj district, I had not thought about becoming the candidate for the top post,' the former Jharkhand Governor told reporters.

After the news of her candidature was announced, there were celebration across Odisha. Many Santhalese supporters gathered outside her house with their traditional musical instruments and sang and danced, reported PTI.

Draupadi Murmu was on Wednesday seen sweeping the floor at Shiv temple in Odisha's Rairangpur before offering prayers there, reported ANI.