Here is everything you need to know about NDA’s Prez pick Draupadi Murmu

On June 21, The Bhartiya Janata Party- led National Democratic Alliance coalition government announced former Governor of Jharkhand Draupadi Murmu’s name as its Presidential candidate for the upcoming elections scheduled for July 18, 2022. She will file her nomination on June 25. 

Once elected, Murmu will become the first tribal President of India. She will be the second female President after Pratibha Patil, who served as the President from 2007 to 2012. Besides, Murmu will be the first-ever President elected from Odisha. VV Giri, the fourth President of India was born to a Telegu family in Odisha’s Berhampur.

Following the announcement of her candidature, a wave of congratulations has followed from leaders across party lines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, “Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, the downtrodden as well as the marginalised. She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation.”

Needless to say, people of Odisha took some time off and enjoyed a celebratory mood soon after the announcement was made.  Let’s dig into some lesser known facts about NDA Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu.

Murmu was born in a Santal tribal family on June 20, 1958, in village Uparbeda under Kusumi tehsil of Mayurbhanj. She gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar and then worked as a Junior Assistant in Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983 in the Odisha government. In 1994, she joined as a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur and continued serving at the institute till 1997. She joined the BJP in the same year.

Before she became an MLA, Murmu served as a councillor in Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 1997 and as vice-president of the BJP’s Scheduled Tribes Morcha. She became the vice-chairperson of the Rairangpur NAC. If elected, Murmu will be the first President to have been born after Independence.

Murmu had served twice as an MLA representing Rairangpur Assembly seat and once as a minister in Odisha, before being sworn in as the Governor of Jharkhand on May 18, 2015.  She held the portfolios of commerce and transport from 2000 to 2002 and fisheries and animal resources development from 2002 to 2004. 

She was variously district president of the BJP unit in Mayurbhanj, and State president of the BJP Scheduled Tribe Morcha between 2006 and 2009. She has been conferred with the best legislator award Nilakantha Samman by Odisha Legislative Assembly in 2007.

Murmu’s five-year term as Governor of Jharkhand was scheduled to end on May 18, 2020, but it was automatically extended due to the non-appointment of a new Governor in wake of the ongoing Covid pandemic. 

Murmu was married to Shyam Charan Murmu and the couple had two sons and a daughter. However, Murmu has suffered multiple tragedies in her personal life. Her husband, Shyam Charan Murmu had passed away following a cardiac arrest. Later in 2009, one of her sons died under mysterious circumstances. Just three years later, in 2012, her second son died in a road accident. Murmu's daughter Itishree is married to Ganesh Hembram and settled in Bhubaneswar, where she works at UCO Bank. Itishree’s husband Ganesh Hembram is a rugby player and the young couple has a little daughter.