Droupadi Murmu, the BJP-led NDA’s presidential candidate, defeated Yashwant Sinha, the opposition candidate, with a resounding victory. On July 25th, Murmu will take over as India’s 15th president after Ram Nath Kovind. The appointment of Droupadi Murmu as India’s 15th president is imminent. Murmu belonged to an Odisha tribal community. She will be holding the topmost position of the constitution in the nation. This will be the first time that an Adivasi woman will be holding such a position. She will also be the second female president of India. Due to Ram Nath Kovind’s term as president expiring on July 24th, Murmu is most likely to take the oath of office on July 25th.
The former governor of Jharkhand and tribal leader from Odisha, Murmu, entered her nomination last month, and PM Narendra Modi delivered the documents to P.C. Mody, the returning officer. Here is all you need to know about her.
Early Life Of Droupadi Murmu
Droupadi Murmu was born in 1958 into a Santhal family, one of the largest tribal communities, in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district. Under the Panchayati Raj framework, her father and grandparents were also elected as Sarpanches. From a very young age, Murmu has been a pioneer. She was the first girl from Uparbeda, one of the seven revenue villages in the Uparbeda panchayat in the underdeveloped Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, to enrol in college, the Ramadevi Women’s College, which is now the Ramadevi Women’s University in Bhubaneswar.
From 1979 to 1983, she worked as a junior assistant in the State Irrigation and Power Department. She resigned from her position in Bhubaneswar and moved back to Rairangpur to take care of her family at her mother-in-law’s insistence. She then started working as a teacher at the Sri Aurobindo Integral School from 1984 to 1997. A few years ago, she lost her husband and both of her sons. Itishri Murmu, one of her daughters, is employed with the UCO bank in Odisha. Rugby players, Ganesh Hembram and Itishri were wed in 2015.
Political Career Of Droupadi Murmu
As she had won a seat in the council of Rairangpur city in 1997, her political career was initiated, although it was just a local election. She was always seen on the streets whenever any community work was being done. Her main concern was the sanitary issues which she had personally supervised in every single operation.
She stood for BJP in the Rairangpur seat. She was also elected to the state assembly in 2000 and 2009. She was the district board councillor in 1997. She was the representative of the same constituency when she became an MLA.
Before taking office as the governor of Jharkhand on May 18, 2015, Murmu served in the BJD-BJP coalition administration in Odisha as an MLA twice and a minister once. Murmu held the position until 2021 before relocating to her village in Rairangpur. She was also the first female governor in the state. Along with this, she was the first female tribal member who held such a position in India.
Governor Of Jharkhand
Murmu took the oath as the first female governor of Jharkhand on May 18, 2015. BJP controlled the state in the six years term for which Murmu held the seat. BJP controlled the union government during this period as well. This made things easy for her as a governor.
2022 Presidential Campaign
The BJP proposed Murmu as the NDA’s choice for president of India in the June 2022 election, which took place the following month. She has already been elected President of India and will take office on July 25, 2022. She will become the second woman and first tribal politician to be elected president. The opposition parties chose Yashwant Sinha as their presidential candidate. Murmu travelled to many states during her election campaign to solicit support for her candidacy. Prior to the election, a number of opposition parties, including JMM, BSP, and SS, indicated their support for her candidacy.
Droupadi Murmu, the NDA’s presidential candidate, won the election by garnering 6,76,803 more votes than her opponent, Yashwant Sinha, who received 3,80,177. After the fourth round of tallying, Returning Officer P.C. Mody made an official declaration that Murmu had received 64.03% of the vote. Sinha received 36% of the valid votes. In the election, Murmu received votes from a total of 2824 electors, including 540 MPs, while her opponent, Sinha received votes from 1,877 electors, including 208 MPs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that Murmu has dedicated her life to serving society and expressed confidence that she will make a “wonderful President” shortly after she was announced as the BJP-led NDA’s presidential nominee. Murmu is renowned for making decisions with an eye toward the bigger political message. The BJP is optimistic that Murmu’s candidacy will help it expand its reach among tribals not only in her home state but also across the nation as it has continually worked to appeal to various underprivileged communities to successful political outcomes.
She will be the first President to be born after independence. In order to connect with the general public, Modi frequently mentions being the first Prime Minister to be born after India gained independence. Murmu, who will succeed Ram Nath Kovind as India’s 15th President when she turns 64, will also be the nation’s youngest leader.
Personal Struggles Of Droupadi Murmu
Murmu had to face a huge amount of political disturbance even though she had a good political history. She stood for Mayurbhanj in 2009 for the Lok Sabha elections but was defeated by BJD. BJP terminated their links soon after this.
She had to face the death of three very close relatives in this period as well. This made the times quite turbulent for her. Her husband, Shyam Charan Murmu died in 2014. This was followed by the death of her younger son, Sippun Murmu in 2013, and her eldest son, Laxman Murmu in 2009.
The amendments which were made in the two-centuries-old land regulations, the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act, would have made it easier for the people to transfer property for any kind of industrial use. This was led by the BJP government, initiated by Chief Minister Raghubar Das, in November 2016. Murmu made it a point to return the bills in June of 2017. She asked how these revisions help the tribal people. This was met with a huge amount of recognition from her own people. The Adivasis had thought that this move might have reduced their demands for land.
Conclusion
Murmu was always quite appreciated for her demands for tribal people and she was always against any move that was made against the Adivasis. She took these steps even when BJP led forward these ideas. She was a strong leader and a good role model for women.
When BJP was leading Jharkhand in 2018, she mentioned at an international conference that the condition of tribals in the state was very poor despite the changes brought by the government. She also asked for the translation of the works on Adivasi languages and culture in general.