How a Tribal Woman from Odisha Became the 15th President of India?

Picture Credit: jagranjosh

The 15th presidential election of India offered us the first ever president from a tribal community. After the 4 rounds of polling, out of the two potential candidates Droupadi Murmu and Yashwant Sinha, Droupadi Murmu won the 15th presidential election defeating Yashwant Sinha by 947 votes.

What Does the Presidential Election Consist Of?

The presidential elections consist of electing candidates by an electoral college having elected members of both the houses of parliament and Legislative Assemblies of states and union territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

Who is Droupadi Murmu?

• Droupadi Murmu belongs to the Santhal community and was born in 1958 in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. 

• She is the first female governor of Jharkhand who has completed the full tenure.

• She also served as the cabinet minister of Jharkhand.

• The Second female president of India after Pratibha Patil. Before entering into Politics, she was a teacher by profession, later she was elected as the MLA of Biju Janta Dal- BJP coalition till 2009, representing Rirangpur in Odisha.

Her Early Childhood and Political Career

• Being from a district of Odisha, Murmu has always been struck with poverty issues, as she belonged to an underdeveloped place where her life was full of challenges.

• She completed her high schooling at Unit 2 High school, Bhubaneswar

• She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Arts from Ramadevi Women’s College, Bhubaneswar.

• She stepped into politics as a junior assistant in Irrigation and power department in the Odisha government.

• Furthermore, she was regarded as the vice chairman of Rairangpur NAC and was also awarded the best MLA of the Year Award in the year 2007.

• Apart from all this, Murmu also has a wide administrative experience in the fields of commerce, transport, fisheries, and Animal husbandry, thus making her a perfect fit for the post of president.

Murmu’s Family

Murmu is a widow woman, She had 3 children out of which 2 of her sons died. However, She has a daughter Itishree Murmu who is an employee in a bank and married to Rugby player Ganesh Hembram. Apart from all these losses Murmu continued to focus on her political career. 

She mentioned in one of her interviews about the ways or methods she walked on, meditation, yoga, and even joined Brahma Kumaris to gain mental peace. Later, she will be able to gain political success following these practices.

What Powers Does Murmu Hold As a President?

As a president, there is a range of responsibilities to be taken care of, the following are the roles of a president:

• As a president, she is the commander-in-chief of the Indian armed forces.
• She also holds judicial, legislative, executive, financial, diplomatic, and military powers.
• Financial head of the executive, a body that executes the law.

The Reaction of Jharkhand to Murmu’s Victory

The people of Jharkhand were overjoyed and elated over Murmu’s win in the 15th presidential elections. There was a rush of celebration and joy in the state and people even danced to the traditional tunes and shared sweets and played with colors as if it was a season of festival.

Picture Credit: economictimes

Political Leaders on Murmu’s Victory

 

Prime minister Narendra Modi, was the first one to greet Murmu on her victory, after the third poll, as she was the one having the highest number of votes

Narendra Modi tweeted “India scripts history. At a time when 1.3 billion Indians are marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a daughter of India hailing from a tribal community born in a remote part of eastern India has been elected our President!” as a mark of respect to the 15th president.

Apart from Narendra Modi, powerful leaders such as Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, and JP Nadda also added a congratulatory message to her success and also regarded her as the voice of the marginalized communities. 

Apart from that, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also congratulated Murmu on winning the presidential elections and regarded her as a suitable candidate for the post.

Written By: Khushbu Arora

Edited By: Nidhi Jha