Droupadi Murmu, former governor of Jharkhand, has been elected the 15th President of India.
Hailing from the Santhal tribe in Odisha, she is the first political candidate of Indian indigenous background to secure this post as well as the first president to be born after Independence.
Murmu won almost 65 per cent of the total vote value after three rounds of counting, beating out Yashwant Sinha.
“Heartfelt gratitude to the people of the country for giving me an opportunity as the country’s first tribal woman President, thank you,” Murmu tweeted.
देश की प्रथम आदिवासी महिला राष्ट्रपति के रूप में मुझे अवसर प्रदान करने के लिए देश की जनता-जनार्दन का ह्रदय से आभार, धन्यवाद 🙏#DroupadiMurmu
— Droupadi Murmu . द्रौपदी मुर्मू (@DropadiMurmu__) July 21, 2022
Congratulations have been flooding in from across the political spectrum for the 64-year-old who, upon taking oath, will be the youngest Indian President till date.
“India scripts history. At a time when 1.3 billion Indians are marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a daughter of India hailing from a tribal community born in a remote part of eastern India has been elected our President! Congratulations to Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji on this feat,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet.
“Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji’s life, her early struggles, her rich service and her exemplary success motivates each and every Indian. She has emerged as a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, marginalised and the downtrodden.”
Politician Shashi Tharoor also called her “a proud representative of India’s original inhabitants.”
Born 20 June 1958 in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, Murmu worked as a school teacher and an assistant professor at the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Institute in Rairangpur before entering politics.
Murmu’s political career began in 1997 as councillor of Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 1997. She also served as the vice-president of Bharathiya Janata Party’s Scheduled Tribes Morcha.
In 2015, she became the first woman governor of Jharkhand.
Sadly, her personal life has been marked by numerous tragedies. In 2009, one of her sons passed away under mysterious circumstances and three years later, her other son died in a road accident. In 2014, her husband died of cardiac arrest.
Murmu will be sworn into office on Monday, 25th July 2022.
#WATCH | Odisha: Locals in Rairangpur, the native place of President-designate #DroupadiMurmu cheerfully celebrate her victory in the Presidential elections (21.07) pic.twitter.com/KeckdHsRTl
— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2022
READ MORE: First Tamil Bible stolen from Tanjavur traced to London museum
