New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party has chosen former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu as its presidential candidate. If she is elected the next president of the country, she will become the first tribal president of India and will have the privilege of becoming the second woman president. If she becomes the President, she will be the first President from Odisha. She has risen from an ordinary teacher to the highest peak of politics. Her entire life has been devoted to social service. She has contributed a lot especially for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes.
WHO IS DRAUPADI MURMU?
Has been the first woman and tribal governor of Jharkhand
Draupadi Murmu, the former governor of Jharkhand, has not only been the first tribal governor of the state, but she also became the first woman governor of the state after the formation of the state in 2000. She is the first woman and tribal leader of Odisha, who became the governor of a state in the country and completed her term. The BJP has made her the party’s candidate for the presidential election to be held on 18 July. By the way, in the 2017 elections also, her name had appeared in the prospects for this post. Although Draupadi is originally from Chhattisgarh, she is now from Odisha and has represented Rairangpur twice in the state assembly.
Her political career started from 1997
Draupadi Murmu’s political career began in 1997, when she was elected as a counselor in the Rairangpur notified area of Odisha and then became its vice-chairperson. The BJP also made Murmu the state vice-president of the Odisha Scheduled Tribes Morcha in the same year. Later she also became its president. In 2013, the party appointed her as the National Working Member of the ST Morcha.
Received ‘Neelkanth Award’ for Best MLA in Odisha
In 2007, the Odisha government has also given the ‘Neelkanth Award’ for Best MLA to Draupadi Murmu. While doing politics in Odisha, she has contributed very actively for the upliftment of the tribal community. According to the information, PM Modi had considered her name in the 2017 presidential election too, but finally Ram Nath Kovind’s name was stamped. Her tenure as the Governor of Jharkhand has also been greatly appreciated by the Prime Minister.
She used to teach children without taking salary
At present, Draupadi Murmu comes from the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Due to her being a tribal and a woman, the BJP has probably run a trump card in her name. Before joining politics, Murmu was a teacher. She used to teach without salary at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Center in Rairangpur. Due to the emergence of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP could not have done much in Odisha, despite this, she was successful in winning from her seat.
Draupadi Murmu is administratively quite experienced. During the BJD and BJP coalition government in Odisha, Draupadi Murmu has also held the responsibilities of Minister of Commerce and Transport between 2000 and 2004 and then later in the Department of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Resources. When Narendra Modi’s government was formed at the Center in 2014, in 2015 she was crowned as the first woman and tribal governor of Jharkhand. That is, she has a long administrative experience. Belonging to a very poor family, Murmu comes from a very backward district of Odisha. But, despite all kinds of difficulties, her zeal for studies was such that she completed her education.
Her personal life has been full of tragedy
64 years old Draupadi Murmu’s political career and dedication to social service have been as glorious as her personal life. She has lost her husband Shyam Charan Murmu and two sons long before time. If she is elected as the next President of the country as an NDA candidate, then she will not only represent the tribal society of the entire country by staying at the highest office of the country, but because of her, the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi can shine even more.
WHY BJP CHOSE DRAUPADI MURMU?
There were speculations that the BJP might bring forth a tribal or a female face, although as always the BJP has been unpredictable, it chose Murmu being both factors – a woman and also a tribal face.
Being from Odisha, Draupadi Murmu came ahead in the race
The main reason why Murmu is ahead in the race is also the mathematics of the presidential elections due this year. Think of it like this, the presidential elections of this year i.e. 2022 will be the 16th elections. In this year’s election, there will be 4809 members in the electoral college. Of these, there will be 233 members of the Rajya Sabha, 543 of the Lok Sabha and 4033 of the Legislative Assemblies. Every Member of Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly has a vote value during voting. This time the cost of every vote of every Member of Parliament has been fixed at 700. The value of the votes of the members of the Legislative Assembly of each state is decided on the population of that state. For example, the weightage of votes of each member of the Legislative Assembly in Uttar Pradesh will be 208, while in Mizoram eight and in Tamil Nadu 176, the total weightage of the votes of the members of the Legislative Assembly will be 5,43,231.
BJP and allies have less than 50 percent votes
The weightage of the votes of the total members of the Parliament is 543,200 i.e. the weightage of the votes of all the members included in the Electoral College is 10,86,431. The BJP and its allies are believed to have less than 50 per cent of the votes in the Electoral College with a weightage of 10.86 lakh and will need parties like the YSR Congress and the BJD to make their candidate win. BJD means Biju Janata Dal of Odisha which has government in the state and Naveen Patnaik is the Chief Minister. BJP chose a face from Odisha to correct this math, in such a situation there is no possibility for Naveen Patnaik to back down and this is the reason why Draupadi Murmu went ahead in this race.
Draupadi Murmu is the perfect face for BJP
If we look for political equation in this, then Gujarat elections are followed by MP elections, Madhya Pradesh is India’s largest state in terms of tribal voters, according to 2011 census MP is 21.5% of tribal population, in 2018 elections in Madhya Pradesh BJP had won only 16 out of 47 seats reserved for STs, whereas in 2013 elections this figure was 31, out of 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh, 6 seats are reserved for ST cases. In 2014, the BJP had won all these seats, although the Congress had won one seat in the subsequent by-elections, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won all the ST seats in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP wins trust of ST community
CSDS survey says that BJP got 30% ST votes in 2018 assembly elections while Congress got 40% but in 2019 Lok Sabha elections the equation changed, in MP BJP got 54% ST votes in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. While Congress got only 38%, Jharkhand is also a major state in terms of ST, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP+ got 65% ST votes in Jharkhand. In terms of 2019 Lok Sabha, BJP got 55% ST votes in Rajasthan. At the same time, in the 2018 assembly elections, BJP got 40% and Congress got 41% ST votes. BJP is a far-sighted party, BJP has won the trust of ST community across the country and it wants to maintain it as ST’s role is important in the three states where elections are to be held in 2023.
