Meet Draupadi Murmu — Modi government’s pick for upcoming Presidential elections

• The 64-year-old Draupadi Murmu will become the first tribal woman president in the history of India.
• BJP Parliament wanted the candidate from the northeast, a woman and from the Adivasi community.
• She was chosen out of 20 presidential candidates.

Draupadi Murmu will be the first woman tribal president of India if she wins against Yashwant Sinha, former Union Minister and the joint opposition candidate in the upcoming polls.

She may not only become the first tribal woman president of India but also the second woman president in the country’s history after Pratibha Patil who served as president from 2007-2012.

BJP President J.P Nadda, who announced the name of Draupadi Murmu as the NDA candidate for presidential elections, said that the BJP Parliamentary wanted the candidate should be from the northeast, a woman and from the Adivasi community. It will be the first time a tribal woman is contesting to take the highest post in the country.

The BJP Parliament chose her out of 20 presidential candidates.

The 64-year-old Murmu was the first-ever woman Governor of Jharkhand in 2015.

She hails from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district and has been a BJP legislator twice in the Naveen Patnaik cabinet. She has experience in handling diverse ministries like transport, commerce, fisheries and animal husbandry in the Odisha government.

Her political career and educational background

Murmu started her political career as a councilor and later she became the Vice-Chairperson of the Rairangpur National Advisory Council or NAC. In 2013, she became a national executive member of the party's Scheduled Tribe Morcha in Odisha.

In 2007, the Odisha Legislative Assembly honored her with its Best MLA of the year award.

Former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Rairangpur, she held the assembly seat in 2009, the year when BJD ended ties with BJP ahead of state elections.

Born into a tribal family she had struggled with poverty in one of the underdeveloped districts. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Arts from Ramadevi Women’s college in Bhubaneswar.

She has also served as a junior assistant in the irrigation and power department in the Odisha government.

SEE ALSO:
Rebel Sena MLAs arrive in Assam as Maharashtra political crisis continues
Meta will not take commission from creators on Instagram and Facebook until 2024