Er. Prabhat Kishore
History was created in India when the first tribal woman was elected to the highest constitutional office on 25 July 2022. The contest between Draupadi Murmu of the ruling alliance and Yashwant Sinha of the opposition parties for the post of President of India was a foregone conclusion. The arithmetic of the electoral college had already confirmed that the contest would be one sided and it was just a formality. It would have been better if all the political parties had reached a consensus on a common candidate for this constitutional post.
Presently, the government as well as society are working for the empowerment and equality of women through many ambitious programmes. The women serving in various positions are role models for girls who dream of a prosperous future. The elevation of Draupadi Murmu to the top post of the country, which has the second largest population in the world, has proved to be a catalyst for social change. Undoubtedly, her election as President has been a milestone in Indian history.
Draupadi Murmu has travelled a political journey from zero to hero. Her family, belonging to the Santhal tribe, struggled with poverty. Born on 20 June 1958 in the remote village of Baidaposi in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, Draupadi completed her graduation from Rama Devi Women’s College, Bhubaneswar. She started her social life as an honorary assistant professor at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Centre, Rairangpur. She then served as a junior assistant in the Irrigation and Power Department of the Odisha Government from 1979 to 1983.
Draupadi started her political journey in 1997 as a councillor and Vice Chairperson of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. In the same year, she was appointed Vice President of the Odisha BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha. She was elected MLA from the Rairangpur Assembly Constituency in 2000 and served as Minister of State in the Commerce and Transport Department and subsequently in the Fisheries and Animal Resources Department in the BJD BJP coalition government under the chief ministership of Naveen Patnaik. She was again elected from the same constituency in 2004. For her outstanding contribution, she was honoured with the Neelkantha Award for being the best MLA by the Odisha Vidhan Sabha in 2007. She contested from the Rairangpur Assembly Constituency in 2009 and 2014 and from the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha Constituency in 2014, but could not succeed. In 2015, she was sworn in as the first woman Governor of Jharkhand and completed her full term. As Governor, she proved herself to be a compassionate and balanced administrator who was accessible to the downtrodden and marginalised communities.
Draupadi Murmu is not a very high profile personality. She rose through the political ranks battling neglect, poverty, and personal tragedies. She faced many ups and downs in her personal life and lost her husband and both sons in tragic circumstances. However, with a great zeal to serve the nation and society, she did not stop her march forward. She is believed to be deeply spiritual and a keen practitioner of the meditation techniques of the Brahma Kumaris.
In fact, Draupadi’s name was also doing the rounds as the BJP’s likely choice for the topmost post in 2017. However, Ram Nath Kovind, then the Governor of Bihar, was finally chosen. There may have been several political and other factors behind her selection by the BJP for the top post, but for the people she represents Nari Shakti and reinforces the message, “Yatra Naryastu Pujayante, Ramante Tatra Devata.”
Draupadi Murmu has become a role model for various reasons, not only for the public but also for political parties with different ideologies. She received support not only from the NDA, but also from several opposition parties that extended their unconditional support to her candidature despite political differences. Not only neutral regional parties like BJD, YSRCP, and AIADMK, but also the BJP’s staunch opponents such as JMM, SBSP, BSP, Akali Dal, JDS, TDP, and many others lined up in her favour. Even some Congress, NCP, and other party MLAs did not hesitate to cross vote in support of Murmu. She won a landslide victory, securing 2,824 first preference votes with a value of 676,803 (64.03%) over UPA candidate Yashwant Sinha, who managed to secure only 1,877 first preference votes with a value of 380,177 (35.97%).
Our country welcomed its 15th President of the world’s largest democracy on 25 July 2022, when she was administered the oath of office. For the first time, a Moolwasi Santhal woman of the country occupied Rashtrapati Bhavan at Raisina Hill, which epitomises India’s strength, democratic traditions, and national character.
