8 Things You Need to Know About Draupadi Murmu Who Could Be India’s Next President!

The race for the Presidential seat has already begun.

Though the names of many prominent personalities like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj and apparently even Rajnikanth have been making rounds, one name that is largely being speculated to take over from the current President Pranab Mukherjee, is Draupadi Murmu, the present Governor of Jharkhand.

Hailing from a tribal community in Odisha, Draupadi Murmu has had a very illustrious career graph, spanning two decades.

If chosen, she will be the very first person from a tribal community to be the President of India.

Draupadi Murmu. Source: Raj Bhavan Jharkhand

Here’s everything you need to know about the surprise contender for the premier post:

• Draupadi Murmu is the first woman to hold the Governor’s post in Jharkhand, taking charge in May 2015 at the age of 59.
• A resident of Uparbeda village in Kusumi block, she is also the first woman leader hailing from Odisha to be appointed Governor of an Indian state.
• Daughter of late Biranchi Narayan Tudu, Murmu started her political career in 1997 as the Councillor in Rairangpur district of Odisha.
• The same year she went on to become the Vice-Chairperson of Rairangpur and after a period of three years, she was elected from the same constituency for the state assembly. She was also made the national executive member of the BJP ST Morcha, or the Scheduled Tribes wing of the party.
• An alumnus of Rama Devi Women’s College, Bhubaneswar, she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and had worked as an honorary assistant professor in the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research, Rairangpur, and as a junior assistant in the irrigation department of Odisha.
• From 2000 to 2004, Murmu held many ministerial portfolios during the Naveen Patnaik-led BJP coalition government, having departments like Transport and Commerce along with Fisheries and Animal Husbandry under her supervision.
• In 2007, she was honoured with the Pandit Nilakantha Award by the Odisha Legislative Assembly, for exemplary services for the society as an MLA.
• She also essayed the role of BJP district president of Mayurbhanj from 2002 to 2009 and again in 2013, a post that she continued to hold till she took over as the Governor of Jharkhand.

The term of the serving President Pranab Mukherjee expires on July 25.

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