Trendsetter! Meet Draupadi Murmu, India's Daughter Who Defeated Yashwant Sinha To Become 15th President Of India

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) backed Draupadi Murmu, 64, and is the second woman and first Adivasi female to hold the position of the President of India. She has defeated the opposition's pick Yashwant Sinha who was backed by Congress, TMC, AAP and several other parties by a massive margin after receiving more than 64 per cent valid votes.

At the end of the counting process, which continued for over 10 hours, the returning officer P.C. Mody declared Draupadi Murmu as the 15th President of India. She was declared the winner in the run to become president of the world's largest democracy with 6,76,803 votes against opposition's Yashwant Sinha, who managed to bag 3,80,177 votes, reported The Indian Express.

Know Her Better!

On June 20, 1958, President Murmu was born in the Uparbeda village of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha. She was raised in a Santali tribal family by Biranchi Narayan Tudu. Under the Panchayati raj system, Murmu's father and grandfather were the village heads.

Murmu was married to a banker, Shyam Cheran Murmu, who lost his life in 2014. The tribal couple had two sons, both of them died, and a daughter. In the span of seven years, from 2009 to 2015, she lost her brother, mother, husband, and two sons.

Murmu's Career As Teacher

She started as a school teacher before her debut in state politics. At Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Institute, Rairangpur, she worked as an assistant professor. Later, in the Irrigation Department of the Odisha government, Murmu worked as a Junior Assistant.

In 1997, she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and soon became Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat's councillor. She became the chairperson of Nagar Panchayat, Rairangpur and later served as the BJP's Tribes Morcha National Vice President.

In her political career in BJP, she was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Rairangpur constituency in 2000 and 2004 for two terms. She served the state of Odisha as a minister of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from 2000 to 2004 under the BJP and BJD coalition government.

On May 18, 2015, she was sworn in as Jharkhand's first tribal woman governor. Her tenure as a governor continued till July 12, 2021. Currently, she is the second woman and first Adivasi female to hold the position of the President of India.

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