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Droupadi Murmu (née Tudu, born 20 June 1958) is an Indian politician serving as the 15th and current President of India since 25 July 2022. She is the first person belonging to the Santal, scheduled tribe community to be elected as the President of India. Prior to her presidency she served as the ninth Governor of Jharkhand between 2015 and 2021, and held various portfolios in the cabinet of Government of Odisha between 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 until 1997.

Personal life

Draupadi Murmu was born to a Santali family on June 20, 1958, in the Baidaposi area of Rairangpur, Odisha. Her name given by her family was Puti Tudu. She was renamed by her school teacher to Droupadi. Her name was changed several times and she was also named Durpadi, Dorpdi in past. Her father and grandfather were traditional heads of the village council. Murmu is an arts graduate of Rama Devi Women's College.

She married a banker in 1980 with whom she had two sons and a daughter. Her husband, two sons, mother, and a brother all died in a span of 7 years, from 2009 to 2015. She is a follower of the Brahma Kumaris spiritual movement.

Early career

From 1979 to 1983, Murmu worked as a junior assistant at the irrigation department of the Government of Odisha. She then worked as a teacher at the school Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur and taught Hindi, Odia, Maths and Geography.

Political career

Droupadi Murmu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rairangpur. In 1997 she was elected as the councilor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat.

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

In 2009, she lost the Lok Sabha election from Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha constituency as the BJD and BJP alliance had ended.

Governor of Jharkhand (2015–2021)

Murmu was sworn in as the Governor of Jharkhand on 18 May 2015, becoming the first woman to hold the position. 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.

Ratan Tirkey, a former BJP politician and activist, said that Murmu had not done enough to make sure that the self-governance rights granted to tribal communities were properly implemented. These rights were granted under the Fifth Schedule and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 or PESA. Tirkey said, "Despite several requests, the then governor never exercised her powers to implement the Fifth Schedule provisions and Pesa in letter and spirit".

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

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.

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. 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 criticized for her soft stand on police aggression against tribal communities during the movement. 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.

Murmu had received total of 192 memorandums against the amendments in the bill. 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. 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.

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.

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.

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 infrastucture projects.

Presidential campaign

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. During her election campaign, Murmu visited various states seeking support for her candidature. Several opposition parties like BJD, YSRCP, JMM, BSP, SS, JD(S) among others had announced support for her candidature prior to polling. 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.

She was elected as the President of India and assumed office on 25 July 2022. She took oath of office on the Central Hall of Parliament by the Chief Justice N. V. Ramana.

Presidency (2022–present)

She was the first person from India's indigenous designated tribal communities to be elected president. She is the youngest and first individual born after India's independence in 1947 to have been elected president. Murmu is only the second woman after Pratibha Patil to serve as the President of India.

Political position

She follows the BJP party line on Hindi being the national language of India and their support of Hindu nationalism (Hindutva), as well as the alleged benefits of cow urine. She supports BJP's 2020 Indian agriculture acts (commonly known as the farm laws).

Murmu has expressed admiration for India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She has hailed Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and B. R. Ambedkar for their contributions in making the Constitution of India.

Electoral performance

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

References

1. ^ "India: Tribal politician Draupadi Murmu wins presidential vote | DW | 21.07.2022". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
2. "Droupadi Murmu: India's Youngest President and First to be Born After Independence". MSN. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
3. ^ "India: BJP backs tribal politician Draupadi Murmu for president against former ally | DW | 18.07.2022". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
4. "Droupadi Murmu may soon be the President of India: Know all about her". India Today. New Delhi. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
5. "Name Droupadi was given by my teacher: President Murmu". telegraphindia.com. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
6. ^ "The Sunday Profile | Droupadi Murmu: Raisina Calling". The Indian Express. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
7. "Draupadi Murmu: Biography, early life, marriage and the story of her dowry". True Scoop News. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
8. "Who was Shyam Charan, Droupadi Murmus husband?". Opoyi. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
9. "Who is Droupadi Murmu?". The Indian Express. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
10. "वियोग से राजयोग तक:बड़े बेटे की मौत से टूट गई थीं द्रौपदी मुर्मू, दो महीने की रोज योग साधना ने डिप्रेशन से उबारा". Dainik Bhaskar. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
11. "Droupadi Murmu is India's Youngest, First Tribal President".
12. "How Droupadi Murmu dealt with personal tragedies". TheWeek.
13. ^ "Profile:The importance of being Droupadi Murmu". The Hindu.
14. "Droupadi Murmu: India's first tribal president takes oath". BBC News. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
15. "Droupadi Murmu sworn in as first woman Governor of Jharkhand-I News – IBNLive Mobile". IBN Live. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
16. ^ "Tribal activists expect Droupadi Murmu to be assertive as President". www.telegraphindia.com. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
17. "Explained: What is the Pathalgadi movement, and what is JMM govt's stand on it?". The Indian Express. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
18. ^ Tewary, Amarnath (13 April 2018). "The Pathalgadi rebellion". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
19. ^ Pandey, Prashant (6 September 2017). "Jharkhand Guv approves Freedom of Religion bill, land act; BJP welcomes move". The Indian Express. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
20. "Droupadi Murmu to visit Karnataka today, seek support for presidential polls". Hindustan Times. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
21. "Murmu to visit Kolkata today to seek support". The Indian Express. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
22. "Presidential Election 2022 Result Live Updates: Droupadi Murmu makes history, becomes India's first tribal woman President". The Indian Express. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
23. "All About The New President Of India: Draupadi Murmu » Market Place". Market Place. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
24. "Will Droupadi Murmu Remain a BJP Electoral Ploy or Help Unseen Adivasis Be Seen at Last?". The Wire. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
25. "Explained: 5 things to know about Droupadi Murmu, President of India". The Indian Express. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
26. "In Droupadi Murmu, India gets its youngest and first president to be born after Independence". The New Indian Express. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
27. "Droupadi Murmu: India's Youngest President and First to be Born After Independence". MSN. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
28. "Cow ranch a viable mode of self employment: Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu". The Avenue Mail. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
29. "Odisha Election 2000". ECI. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
30. "Odisha Election 2004". ECI. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
31. "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.
32. "Number Theory: Comparing Droupadi Murmu's win with her predecessors". Hindustan Times. 21 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

Further reading

• "The Sunday Profile | Droupadi Murmu: Raisina Calling". The Indian Express. 22 July 2022.
• Saini, Ajay (2020). "A Lifeline for the Subaltern: Group Work During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Jharkhand, India". Social Work with Groups. 45 (1): 88–92. doi:10.1080/01609513.2020.1868704. S2CID 234210438 – via Taylor & Francis.
• Naik, Smita (2016). Whither Women: A Shift from Endowment to Empowerment. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781523724116.
• Bhuiyan, Dasarathi (2014). "Women Politics" (PDF). Odisha Review – via Academia.edu.

External links

• Official website

v t e Presidents of India
List
Presidents	Rajendra Prasad Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Zakir Husain V. V. Giri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Zail Singh Ramaswamy Venkataraman Shankar Dayal Sharma K. R. Narayanan A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Presidency Pratibha Patil Presidency Pranab Mukherjee Presidency Ram Nath Kovind Presidency Droupadi Murmu (incumbent) Presidency
Acting	V. V. Giri Mohammad Hidayatullah B. D. Jatti
Things named after presidents Residence Spouse Category

• 1958 births
• Living people
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• Adivasi politicians
• Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Odisha
• Female heads of state
• Governors of Jharkhand
• Odisha MLAs 2000–2004
• Odisha MLAs 2004–2009
• Odisha politicians
• People from Mayurbhanj district
• Presidents of India
• Santali people
• Women in Odisha politics
• Women presidents
• Women state governors of India