Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha has now become the first tribal President and second female President of India. As a tribal woman from remote Mayurbhanj district, she had never thought about becoming the President of India. Murmu comes from a discreet tribal community of Santhals. Santhals, also known as Manjhis, are an ethnic group largely concentrated in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar and West Bengal. According to Britannica, there are over 5 million Santhals in India alone. She is the first tribal woman from the East to hold such a top position.
Modi’s government choosing a leader from an Odisha Adivasi community seems to be its best bet currently. BJP’s choice of Draupadi Murmu for president is an important signalling for India’s historically prideful and underserved tribal communities.
Murmu has a clean track record and as an Adivasi can challenge, at least in perception, the upper caste dominance in Odisha’s politics and consolidate a large section of the Adivasi population in western Odisha.
During the BJP-BJD coalition government that came to power in 2000, she held the Commerce and Transport, and, subsequently, the Fisheries and Animal Husbandry portfolios. She managed to win in 2009 even as the BJP paled against the challenge put up by the by-then estranged BJD.
Murmu entered State politics in 1997 and was conferred with the Nilkantha Award in 2007. BJP President JP Nadda, has rightly said that “Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Droupadi Murmu. Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country”.
When she assumed office as the governor of Jharkhand on May 18, 2015, not only was she the first woman to have done so but also the first tribal leader and woman from Odisha to be a governor in any Indian state.
She took her baby steps struggling with poverty in one of the most remote and underdeveloped districts of the country. She is the only woman to have travelled from the Santhal tribal section to the post of President.
She was also the first woman and tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as Governor of an Indian state. She has come a long way in making her way till here, on her own, breaking all social stigmas. When she had gone to study in Bhubaneshwar before the nineties, there were no roads, no Google Maps to help people.
She has always maintained a very stoic appearance in her public and personal life. She figured everything out on her own. She has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalised. Her life has been marked with personal tragedies as she lost her husband and two sons.
She is a source of inspiration for us. As Murmu’s contributions to our nation are immense and she possesses a lot of expertise in different areas which will be certainly of great benefit to our country.
