Draupadi Murmu

Droupadi Murmu (born 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has been elected as the 15th President of India. She is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.[1] She served as the ninth Governor of Jharkhand between 2015 and 2021 and was chosen as the presidential candidate for the National Democratic Alliance in the 2022 election. After securing a majority of votes, Murmu made history by becoming the first tribal and the second woman to secure this post.[2] Once she takes oath as the President of India on 25th July 2022, Murmu will be the youngest President till date and the first to be born after independence.

Personal life

Droupadi Murmu was born in a Santali tribal family on June 20, 1958, in Baidaposi area of Rairangpur from Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, to Biranchi Narayan Tudu.[4][5] Both her father and grandfather were elected as sarpanch under the Panchayati Raj system.

Murmu is an arts graduate of Rama Devi Women's College.

She married Shyam Charan Murmu, a banker, who died in 2014. The couple had two sons, both of whom are dead, and a daughter. She lost her husband, two sons, mother, and a brother in a span of 7 years, from 2009 to 2015.

Teaching career

Murmu started out as a school teacher before entering state politics. She worked as an assistant professor at the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Institute, Rairangpur and junior assistant at irrigation department Government of Odisha.

Political career

Murmu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1997 and was elected as the councilor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. Murmu became the Chairperson of Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 2000.

During the BJP and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha, she was the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Commerce and Transportation from March 6, 2000, to August 6, 2002, and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from August 6, 2002, to May 16, 2004.

Governor of Jharkhand

Murmu with Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi in 2017

Murmu took oath as the Governor of Jharkhand on 18 May 2015, becoming the first woman Governor of Jharkhand.[14] The BJP was in power in the Jharkhand Government for most of the six-year tenure as a governor. BJP was in power in the Union Government throughout her tenure.

Ratan Tirkey, a former BJP politician, said that Murmu had not done enough to make sure that the self-governance rights granted to tribal communities were properly implemented. These rights were granted under the Fifth Schedule and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 or PESA. Tirkey said, "Despite several requests, the then governor never exercised her powers to implement the Fifth Schedule provisions and Pesa in letter and spirit"

2022 presidential campaign

Main article: 2022 Indian presidential election

In June 2022, the BJP nominated Murmu as the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for President of India for the 2022 election the following month. As of Now, she is elected as the President of India and will assume office on 25th July 2022. She will be the first tribal politician and second woman to be elected president. Yashwant Sinha, was nominated as the candidate for President by the opposition parties.[18]

During her election campaign, Murmu visited various states seeking support for her candidature. Several opposition parties like JMM, BSP, Shiv Sena among others had announced support for her candidature prior to polling.

On 21st July 2022, Murmu secured a comfortable majority in the 2022 Presidential election defeating common opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha with 676,803 electoral votes (64.03% of total) in 21 of the 28 states (including in the union territory of Puducherry) to become the 15th President of India