India gets its 15th President Droupadi Murmu: From tribal leader to Rashtrapati Bhavan
India's 15th President, Droupadi Murmu. Photo: PTI
Droupadi Murmu has become the first tribal leader to be elected the President of India. She succeeds Ram Nath Kovind.
On July 18, 4,796 legislators including 771 MPs and 4,025 MLAs voted for the next President of India. The counting of these votes began at 11 am on July 21.
Even before the voting started, Murmu had the backing of almost 60% of the elected legislators of Lok Sabha and state assemblies. She had support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Shiv Sena, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), YSR Congress Party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Janata Dal Secular (JDS), AIADMK, TDS and Shiromani Akali Dal.
On the other hand, Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP Union Minister, had the support of the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Samajwadi party (SP).
Who is Droupadi Murmu? Murmu was born on June 20, 1958 in a Santhali tribal family in the Uparbeda village of the Mayurbhanj district in Odisha. She comes from one of the most backward and remote districts of Odisha, where she had to struggle with poverty in her initial years. Despite all the hardships, Murmu pursued her education.
She has a bachelor’s degree in Arts from the Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar. Before joining politics, she was an assistant teacher in the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre in Odisha's Rairangpur.
Droupadi’s journey in politics: Murmu started her political career with the BJP in 1997. She was elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. In 2000, she became the chairperson of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat.
She has also served as the national vice-president of BJP's Scheduled Tribes Morcha. Murmu was elected as a legislator in 2000 and 2004 from the Rairangpur constituency of Odisha. She was an important minister in the Naveen Patnaik-led BJP-BJD coalition government.
When Narendra Modi-led NDA ascended to power in 2014, Murmu became the first woman Governor of Jharkhand.
Why NDA picked Murmu as its President choice: Initially, the names of candidates like Arif Mohammad Khan and several other leaders were floated as the NDA's President choice. But on July 21, Murmu, a tribal leader was announced by the NDA as its Presidential pick. It was a decision backed by fine political acumen.
With the entry of Murmu in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the BJP intends to build its inroads among the tribal community in the country, which constitutes around 9% of the total population of the country.