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Droupadi Murmu

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Droupadi Murmu
Official portrait, 2022
President of India
Incumbent
Assumed office
25 July 2022
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Vice President
Preceded byRam Nath Kovind
Governor of Jharkhand
In office
18 May 2015 – 12 July 2021
Chief MinistersRaghubar Das
Hemant Soren
Preceded bySyed Ahmed
Succeeded byRamesh Bais
Minister of State of Odisha
Independent Charge
In office
6 August 2002 – 16 May 2004
Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik
MinistryFisheries and Animal Resources Development
In office
6 March 2000 – 6 August 2002
Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik
MinistryCommerce and Transport
Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly
In office
5 March 2000 – 21 May 2009
Preceded byLaxman Majhi
Succeeded byShyam Charan Hansdah
ConstituencyRairangpur
Personal details
Born
Durgi Biranchi Tudu

(1958-06-20) 20 June 1958 (age 66)
Uparbeda, Mayurbhanj, Odisha, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse
Shyam Charan Murmu
​
​
(m. 1980; died 2014)​
Children3[a]
ResidenceRashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi
Alma materUtkal University (BA)
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionTeacher
WebsiteOfficial website

Droupadi Murmu (born Durgi Biranchi Tudu; born 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician who has served as the president of India since 2022. She won the 2022 presidential election as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.[2] She is the first person belonging to a tribal community and also the second woman after Pratibha Patil to hold the office. She is also the youngest person to occupy the post (at 64) and the first president born in independent India.[3][4]

Previously, she served as the eighth governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021, being the longest-serving governor for that state, as a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur Assembly constituency from 2000 to 2009, and as minister of State (Independent Charge), Government of Odisha from 2000 to 2004. Before entering politics, she worked as a clerk in the State Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983, and then as a teacher in Rairangpur from 1994 until 1997.[5]

Personal life

Droupadi Murmu was born to a Santali family on 20 June 1958, in Uparbeda village[6] in the Baidaposi area of Rairangpur, Odisha.[7] Her father Biranchi Narayan Tudu was a farmer.[8] Her father and grandfather were traditional heads (designated Sarpanch) of the village council (Gram Panchayat).[6] Her family named her Durgi Tudu, after her paternal grandmother, and her nickname was Batti which eventually became Puti. She was renamed by her school teacher to Droupadi, and her name was changed several times to those including Durpadi and Dorpdi in the past.[9]

Murmu studied elementary education at the local primary school in Upar Beda. At age five, she moved to Bhubaneswar for higher studies.[10] She completed secondary education from Girl's High School Unit-2, and graduated in B.A. from Rama Devi Women's College.[11]

She married Shyam Charan Murmu (1 April 1958 – 1 August 2014),[8] a banker,[10] in 1980[12][13] with whom she had two sons and a daughter. Her husband, two sons (Sipun died in a road accident and Laxman died in mysterious circumstances), mother, and a brother all died in a span of 7 years, from 2009 to 2015.[14][15][16] She is a follower of the Brahma Kumaris spiritual movement.[17]

Murmu is an admirer of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She has also hailed Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar.[18][19]

Early career

From 1979 to 1983, Murmu worked as a junior assistant at the irrigation department of the Government of Odisha. From 1994 to 1997, she then worked as a teacher at the school Sri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Centre in Rairangpur, where she taught Hindi, Odia, mathematics, and geography.[20][18] She never claimed a full salary at the school.[10]

Political career

In 1997, Droupadi Murmu was elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat[18] as an independent candidate from a reserved seat for women.[10] She then joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[20]

She won the 2000 Odisha Legislative Assembly election from the Rairangpur Assembly constituency and served two terms in the Odisha Legislative Assembly between 2000 and 2009.[3] During the BJP and BJD coalition government in Odisha, she was the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Commerce and Transportation from 6 March 2000 to 6 August 2002, and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from 6 August 2002 to 16 May 2004.[18][21]

In 2007, she received the Nilkanth Award for the Best MLA of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.[22] In 2009, she lost the Lok Sabha election from Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha constituency as the BJD and BJP alliance had ended.[18] She was elected to the BJP National Executive (ST Morcha) in 2013, and was the district president until 2015.[22]

Governor of Jharkhand (2015–2021)

Governor Murmu with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015

Murmu was sworn in as the Governor of Jharkhand on 18 May 2015, becoming the first woman to hold the position.[23] The BJP was in power in the Jharkhand Government for most of her six-year tenure as a governor and was also in power in the Union Government throughout her tenure.[24] She administered the oath of office to Hemant Soren as Chief Minister of Jharkhand in 2019.

Her six-year tenure as Governor began in May 2015 and ended in July 2021.[18]

Pathalgadi movement

Main article: Pathalgadi movement

In 2016–2017, the Raghubar Das ministry was seeking amendments to the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949. These two original laws had safeguarded the rights of tribal communities on their land. According to the existing laws, land transactions could only be done between tribal communities. The new amendments gave the tribals the right to allow the government to make commercial use of tribal land and to take tribal land on lease. The proposed bill amending the existing law had been approved by the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. The bills were sent to Murmu for approval in November 2016.[24][25]

The tribal people had strongly objected to the proposed law. During the Pathalgadi movement, protests were held against the proposed amendments to the tenancy acts.[26] In one incident, the protest turned violent and the tribals abducted the security detail of the BJP Member of Parliament Karia Munda. Police responded with a violent crack-down on tribal communities, that caused the death of a tribal man. Criminal cases were filed against more than 200 people including the tribal rights activist Stan Swamy. Murmu was criticised for her soft stand on police aggression against tribal communities during the movement.[24] According to woman tribal rights activist Aloka Kujur she was expected to speak up to the government in support of the tribals but this did not happen, and instead she appealed to the Pathalgarhi agitation leaders to repose faith in the constitution.[24]

Murmu with Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi in 2017

Murmu had received total of 192 memorandums against the amendments in the bill.[24] Then opposition leader Hemant Soren had said that the BJP government wanted to acquire tribal land through the two amendment Bills for the benefit of corporates. Opposition parties Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Indian National Congress, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and others had put intense pressure against the bill.[26] On 24 May 2017, Murmu relented and refused to give assent to the bills and returned the bill to the state government along with the memorandums she had received. The bill was later withdrawn in August 2017.[24]

Religion and land bill

In 2017, she approved the Freedom of Religion Bill, 2017, and the bill to amend the Land Acquisition 2013 Act passed by the Jharkhand Assembly.[27]

The new religion bill makes it an offence subject to a penalty of three years in prison, to coerce or lure a person to convert their religion. If the person coerced is a member of a Scheduled Caste or Tribe, a minor, or female, the prison term increases to four years. Fines can be levied in any case. The bill also made it mandatory for voluntary converts, to inform the Deputy Commissioner about their conversion, and to give full details about the circumstances.[27]

The amendments in the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, involved changes in the compensation duration and requirements for social impacts assessment. According to the passed law, monetary compensation for government acquisition of tribal land must be paid within six months of acquisition. The requirement for social impact assessments was dropped for some types of infrastructure projects.[27]

Presidential campaign

Main article: 2022 Indian presidential election

In June 2022, the BJP nominated Murmu as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s candidate for President of India for the 2022 election the following month. Yashwant Sinha, was nominated as the candidate for president by the opposition parties.[5] During her election campaign, Murmu visited various states seeking support for her candidature. Several opposition parties like BJD, YSRCP, JMM, BSP, SHS, JD(S) among others had announced support for her candidature prior to polling.[28][29] On 21 July 2022, Murmu secured a clear majority in the 2022 Presidential election defeating common opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha with 676,803 electoral votes (64.03% of total) in 21 of the 28 states (including in the union territory of Puducherry) to become the 15th President of India.[30]

Presidency (2022–present)

Main article: Presidency of Droupadi Murmu
Chief Justice N. V. Ramana administering the oath of office to President-elect Murmu

On 26 July 2022, Droupadi Murmu took the oath as the 15th President of India which was administered by the 48th Chief Justice of India N. V. Ramana in the presence of former presidents, the vice-president, prime minister, and other delegates.[31]

She is the first person from India's designated tribal communities to be elected president.[32][33] She is the youngest and first individual born after India's independence in 1947 to have been elected president.[34] Murmu is the second woman after Pratibha Patil to serve as president.[4]

Murmu speaking before the 75th Independence Day, August 2022

Murmu addressed the nation for the first time as president on 14 August 2022, the eve of the 75th Independence Day.[35]

In September 2022, she launched a government program 'Pradhanmantri TB mukht Bharat' – an initiative to eradicate tuberculosis from the country.[36] She became the first President of India to inaugurate the 'Mysuru Dasara', a ten-day state festival in Karnataka.[37] In the initial months, Murmu paid visits to the north-eastern states of the country including Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and engaged in ceremonies of various development projects.[38]

In November 2022, she paid her first visit to her home state Odisha after assuming the office of the President to participate in the launch of various programmes. She visited her alma mater and later met school children along the sideways of the road and walked two kilometres to pay obeisance to the deities of Puri Jagannath Temple.[39]

President Murmu at the President's official residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In April 2023, she took a historic flight in a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet at Tezpur Air Station in Assam, the third president ever to fly in a sortie fighter jet. She flew for around 30 minutes over the Brahmaputra and Tezpur valleys also covering the Himalayan ranges. She described it afterwards as an "exhilarating experience".[40][41]

Droupadi Murmu takes a historic sortie in a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter aircraft at the Tezpur Air Force Station.

In May 2023, a row arose when the New Parliament House, under the Central Vista Project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The opposition demanded it to be inaugurated by Murmu as the constitutional head of state, and boycotted the ceremony. However later, Murmu stated "Prime Minister symbolises parliament's trust, and she was proud and deeply satisfied with the inauguration".[42][43]

She expressed her anguish and despair against the continuous crime committed against women in the country, while reacting to the 2024 Kolkata rape and murder incident. She stated "Enough is Enough" and the incident has left the nation shocked; condemning all the violence and crime against women.[44]

Electoral performance

This section is transcluded from Rairangpur Assembly constituency. (edit | history)
2000 Odisha Legislative Assembly election, Rairangpur
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Droupadi Murmu 25,110 34.15
INC Laxman Majhi 20542 27.93
JMM Braja Mohan Hansdah 10485 14.26
Majority 4568 6.21
Turnout 74997 59.81
Registered electors 125,385 [45]
BJP gain from INC


2004 Odisha Legislative Assembly election, Rairangpur
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Droupadi Murmu 29,295 32.66
JMM Ram Chandra Murmu 29253 32.62
INC Laxman Majhi 22551 25.14
Majority 42 0.05
Turnout 89689 68.3
Registered electors 131,315 [46]
BJP hold
This section is transcluded from Mayurbhanj (Lok Sabha constituency). (edit | history)

In 2009 election, Biju Janata Dal candidate Laxman Tudu defeated Jharkhand Mukti Morcha candidate Sudam Marndi by a margin of 66,178 votes.

2009 Indian general elections: Mayurbhanj
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJD Laxman Tudu 256,648 31.08
JMM Sudam Marndi 1,90,470 23.06
BJP Droupadi Murmu 1,50,827 18.26
INC Laxman Majhi 1,40,770 17.04
Independent Rameswar Majhi 25,603 3.10
Majority 66,178 8.02
Turnout 8,24,754 70.27
BJD gain from JMM
This section is transcluded from Rairangpur Assembly constituency. (edit | history)
2014 Odisha Legislative Assembly election, Rairangpur
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJD Saiba Sushil Kumar Hansdah 51,062 32.72
BJP Droupadi Murmu 44,679 22.76
JMM Purna Chandra Marndi 28,838 18.48
INC Shyam Charan Hansdah 19,075 12.22
JDP Budhan Sing Marndi 4,848 3.11
Aama Odisha Party Birsa Kandakel 4,245 2.72
Independent Bada Naran Majhi 1,563 1
Independent Budhu Mahali 1,412 0.9
NOTA None of the above 1,096 0.7
Majority 15,556 9.96
Turnout 1,56,035 74.22
BJD gain from INC
This section is transcluded from 2022 Indian presidential election. (edit | history)
Results of the 2022 Indian presidential election[47][48]
Candidate Coalition Individual
votes 		Electoral
College votes 		%
Droupadi Murmu National Democratic Alliance 2,824 676,803 64.03
Yashwant Sinha United Opposition 1,877 380,177 35.97
Valid votes 4,701 1,056,980 98.89
Blank and invalid votes 53 15,397 1.11
Total 4,754 1,072,377 100
Registered voters / Turnout 4,809 1,086,431 98.86

Awards and honours

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Two are deceased[1]

References

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  27. ^ a b c Pandey, Prashant (6 September 2017). "Jharkhand Guv approves Freedom of Religion bill, land act; BJP welcomes move". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
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  29. ^ "Murmu to visit Kolkata today to seek support". The Indian Express. 9 July 2022. Archived from the original on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
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  35. ^ "President Draupadi Murmu delivers her maiden I-Day eve speech | Full text". Hindustan Times. 14 August 2022. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  36. ^ "President of India launches Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan". pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  37. ^ "President Draupadi Murmu to open Mysuru Dasara this year: CM Bommai". www.business-standard.com. Press Trust of India. 10 September 2022. Archived from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  38. ^ "President Droupadi Murmu to visit three NE states from November 2 to 5; here is her itinerary". cnbctv18.com. 2 November 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  39. ^ Barik, Satyasundar (10 November 2022). "In maiden visit to Odisha as President, Droupadi Murmu walks 2 km to Puri Jagannath temple". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  40. ^ "Murmu becomes third President to fly a sortie on a Sukhoi fighter jet". The Hindu. 8 April 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
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  45. ^ "Odisha Election 2000". ECI. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  46. ^ "Odisha Election 2004". ECI. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  47. ^ "While President-elect #DroupadiMurmu got a vote in all states, Opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha drew a blank in Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, & Sikkim". Twitter.com. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
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  50. ^ "Hoogste onderscheiding voor president India". Suriname Herald. 5 June 2023. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  51. ^ "President Droupadi Murmu receives Fiji's highest civilian award". The Hindu. 6 August 2024.
  52. ^ "Press Trust of India".
  53. ^ "President Murmu receives Timor Leste's highest civilian award". The Times of India.
  54. ^ "After Fiji honour, President Murmu conferred with Timor Leste's highest civilian award". ThePrint. 10 August 2024.

Further reading

Media related to Droupadi Murmu at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by President of India
2022–present 		Incumbent
Odisha Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Laxman Majhi
 Member of the Legislative Assembly for Rairangpur
2000–2009 		Succeeded by
Shyam Charan Hansdah
Government offices
Preceded by Governor of Jharkhand
2015–2021 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by National Democratic Alliance nominee for President of India
2022 		Most recent
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