Droupadi Murmu, a leader from Odisha originating from the Santhal community has been announced as one of the candidates for the country’s presidential elections set to take place next month. Here’s everything you need to know about her.
• Droupadi Murmu was born into a family of the Santhal tribe in Odisha and graduated from the Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar. The Santhals form the largest scheduled tribe in the state of Jharkhand and also have a key presence in other Indian states like Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal.
• She also taught at the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre in Rairangpur, reportedly without drawing any salary for the position.
• Murmu also served as junior assistant in the Odisha government’s irrigation and power department. This stint as a government servant was from 1979 to 1983.
• Her political career started off with her post as a councillor in Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 1997.
• In 2000, Murmu became a minister in the Odisha government and handled a wide range of ministries such as transport, commerce, fisheries and animal husbandry.
• In 2007 she was awarded the Nilkanth Award for the Best MLA by the Odisha Legislative assembly.
• She is the first woman tribal leader to be appointed governor of Jharkhand, and the first to complete the tenure which took place from 2015 to 2021.
• The 64-year-old tribal leader, if elected, will be the first tribal woman to become President of India and also the first Indian president to be born after Independence.
Against all odds of being born into an underdeveloped and remote part of the country, Droupadi Murmu has risen through the ranks from a councillor to now a presidential candidate.