Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], June 23 (ANI): Welcoming BJP-led NDA’s decision to choose Droupadi Murmu as a presidential candidate, Adivasi Jan Parishad chief Prem S Munda on Wednesday said the Opposition parties should learn to include the tribal communities in the primary roles. He appealed to Opposition parties to unanimously elect Droupadi Murmu as the President of India. “All Opposition parties like RJD, Congress, TMC should learn to include the tribal communities in primary roles… I’d like to appeal to Opposition parties to unanimously elect NDA’s candidate Draupadi Murmu as the President of India,” Adivasi Jan Parishad president Prem S Munda told ANI.
The Adivasi Jan Parishad president also stated that no tribal person has got election as NDA’s presidential candidate after 75 years of independence in the country. “After 75 years of independence, never has a tribal person gotten elected as (NDA’s) Presidential candidate. We welcome this decision,” he added.
Droupadi Murmu was on Tuesday declared BJP-led NDA’s presidential candidate. She is a former Odisha minister. She is likely to file her nomination on June 25, said sources. On the other hand, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also announced that former Minister of Finance and External Affairs Yashwant Sinha will be the common candidate of the Opposition parties for the Presidential election, which will take place on July 18, 2022, said a statement.
The late date for filing nominations for the Presidential election is June 29, the polling will take place on July 18 and the votes will be counted on July 21. The voting for presidential elections will be held on July 18. If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country’s second female President.
Droupadi Murmu is the first presidential candidate from Odisha of a major political party or alliance. She continues to break barriers and was the first woman governor of Jharkhand. She served as Jharkhand Governor from 2015 to 2021. Coming from a poor tribal family in a village of Mayurbhanj, a backward district in Odisha, Droupadi Murmu completed her studies despite challenging circumstances. She taught at Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur.
Born on June 20, 1958, she pursued BA at Ramadevi Women’s College Bhubaneswar. She started her political career as Rairangpur NAC vice-chairman. Droupadi Murmu was a member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur between 2000 and 2004. As a minister, she held portfolios of Transport and Commerce, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries. She again served as MLA in the Odisha assembly from 2004 to 2009.
In 2007, the Odisha assembly honoured her with the ‘Nilakantha Award’ for best MLA. She served as a junior assistant in Irrigation and Power Department between 1979 and 1983. She has held several organisational posts in BJP and was vice president of state ST Morcha in 1997. Droupadi Murmu was a national executive member of BJP’s ST Morcha from 2013 to 2015 and served as BJP district chief of Mayurbhanj (West) in 2010 and 2013. Between 2006 and 2009, she was chief of BJP’s ST Morcha in Odisha. She was a member of the national executive of BJP ST Morcha from 2002 to 2009. (ANI)
