Draupadi Murmu, Ex-Jharkhand governor, is NDA candidate for presidential polls

Former Jharkhand governor and tribal leader Draupadi Murmu to be BJP-led NDA candidate for presidential polls. Her candidature comes hous after Yashwant Sinha was named as the common candidate of the Opposition Parties for the presidential election scheduled for July 18, 2022.

Once elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the second-ever female President after Pratibha Patil. If elected she would also be the first President of the country from the state of Odisha.

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Congratulating Draupadi on her nomination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to say: "Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Draupadi Murmu. Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country."

Draupadi belongs to the Santhal tribal family of Uparbeda village. Born in a tribal family struggling with poverty in one of the most remote and underdeveloped Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, Draupadi completed her studies despite extreme circumstances. She taught in a Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur without salary. She contested and won the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat councillor post in 1997.

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She then entered Odisha politics and served as vice president of BJP's Scheduled Tribes Morcha. She went on to become an MLA twice on a BJP ticket from Mayurbhaj's Rairangpur in 2000 and 2009. 

To recall, when Pranab Mukherjee's tenure as President was ending, Murmu's name had been doing the rounds as among the favourite choices of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Between 2000 and 2004, Draupadi was part of the then coalition government of Naveen Patnaik in various responsibilities. From March 6, 2000, to August 6, 2002, she was Minister of State with independent charge for Commerce and Transport, and from August 6, 2002, to May 16, 2004, she was in charge of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development.

The Odisha legislative assembly awarded her the Pandit Nilakantha Award in 2007 for exemplary services to society as an MLA.

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• Draupadi Murmu
• Former Jharkhand governor
• NDA candidate
• next president
• president polls
• presidential election 2022
• tribal leader