DRAUPADI MURMU, A Santhal tribal leader from the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, took oath as the 15th President of India on 25 July. She is the second woman and the first tribal woman to hold the highest office. She also holds the record for becoming the youngest President at 64 and second woman in the position after Pratibha Patil. She was previously the Governor of Jharkhand.
Murmu made her way into the politics of Odisha with hard work. Started her political journey as Councillor of Rairangpur Nagar panchayat in 1997. She also served as Minister of State for Commerce and Transport, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development, Odisha. She was honoured with Nilakantha Award for the best MLA in 2007 by the Legislative Assembly of Odisha.
The nomination of Draupadi Murmu by the BJP for the post of President was kept a well-guarded secret until announced. The selection of one from a tribal community of Odisha reinforces the strengths and vibrancy of Indian democracy. She won with comfortable majority — 1349 out of 1886 votes.
The timing of the new President assuming charge is also exciting when the nation prepares for celebrating the Amrit Mahotsav, 75 years of Independence.
Odisha under Navin Patnaik as Chief Minister, has been recording impressive progress in several directions. His strong and sound administration of the state is so inspiring! We refer to just two of these: the support Odisha extended for the Indian men and women hockey teams, which showed their mettle at the Tokyo Olympics and more recently announcing 100 per cent supply of piped water to Odisha’s holy city Puri.
VICE PRESIDENT DHANKAR
The country has also elected Jagdeep Dhankar (71) as Vice-President. He was described as kisan putra (son of a farmer) by Prime Minister Modi, who also referred to his humble background and gritty rise in public life.
Dhankar’s early political career was under the mentorship of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal and he followed him when the latter walked out of the V.P. Singh government. He became Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs in 1990 in the minority government led by Chandra Shekhar. After the fall of that government, Dhankar shifted focus to state politics and became MLA in the Rajasthan Assembly in 1993. He joined the BJP in 2008.
In recent years Dhankar was frequently in the news: as Governor of West Bengal he often clashed with the actions of the Mamata Banerjee government. These are nothing new; we witness such differences in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, ruled by parties opposed to BJP.
In the south, there is a certain disappointment: there had been the convention to ensure elections of the President and the Vice president representing the north and the south eg. former President Ramnath Kovind was from Uttar Pradesh and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu from Andhra Pradesh. This time opportunities seem to be provided to the eastern and western parts of the country.
The five year tenure of President Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu have been placid and without controversy. One wishes the new incumbents, successful tenures.
