On Tuesday, Draupadi Murmu, considered as the NDAs candidate for the presidential polls next month. She was first considered a contender five years ago, when President Pranab Mukherjee was set to leave Rashtrapati Bhavan. At the time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was highly expected to pick the Odisha tribal leader and then governor of Jharkhand.
Draupadi Murmu, a native of Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, was born on June 20th 1958. She has done her bachelor's degree from Ramadevi Women's College, Bhubaneswar. Murmu's personal life has been clouded by tragedy since she has lost her spouse, Shyam Charan Murmu, and two sons.
She began her career as a teacher. She has served as an MLA from Rairangpur, Mayurbhanj, on the BJP ticket twice (2000 and 2009). Prior to that, she served in the portfolios of Commerce and Transport, and subsequently Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, under the BJP-BJD coalition government in 2000.
Murmu was elected to the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 1997 and served as vice-president of the BJP's Scheduled Tribes Morcha prior to her election as an MLA. Murmu was sworn in as the first female Governor of Jharkhand in 2015.
Professional career -
2007 - AWARDED AS "NILAKANTHA AWARD" FOR THE BEST MLA OF THE YEAR 2007 BY LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ODISHA.
2010 - DISTRICT PRESIDENT. MAYURBHANJ (WEST)
2013 - NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEMBER S.T. MORCHA, BJP TILL APRIL 10, 2015
2015-2021 - GOVERNOR OF JHARKHAND STATE
2006-2009 - STATE PRESIDENT S.T. MORCHA, BJP
2004-2009 - MEMBER OF LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, RAIRANGPUR, ODISHA
2002-2009 - NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEMBER S.T. MORCHA, BJP
2000-2004 - MLA, RAIRANGPUR. ODISHA AND BECAME MINISTER OF STATE.DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT AND COMMERCE
2002-2004 - ANIMAL HUSBANDRY DEPARTMENT, GOVT. OF ODISHA
2002 - DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES GOVT. OF ODISHA
1997 -
VICE-PRESIDENT STATE S.T. MORCHA, BJP
WON AS COUNCILOR AND BECAME VICE CHAIRPERSON RAIRANGPUR
Service Career -
1994-1997 - HONORARY ASST. TEACHER AT SHRI AUROBINDO INTEGRAL EDUCATION CENTRE. RAIRANGPUR
1979-1983 - SERVED AS JR ASST IN IRRIGATION AND POWER DEPT. GOVT OF ODISHA
2022 - ANNOUNCED AS THE NDA'S CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
Her anticipated victory as President, with the NDA capturing 48 percent of the electoral vote, will give the BJP's tribal drive a significant boost. It might also boost the party's hopes in Odisha, where it has struggled to gain ground against the strong BJD.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted,
In addition to Murmu, another name that circulated this time was Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the former governor of West Bengal, who was in contention in 2017.
Earlier, the opposition had announced former union minister Yashwant Sinha as its joint candidate for the post. The poll is slated for July 18. If elected, Murmu would become the first tribal President and the second female President of India.
