Droupadi Murmu, BJP leader and former Governor of Jharkhand, was named as the official nominee of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the Presidential election 2022. Murmu hails from Oidsha and is an influential tribal leader. Murmu will compete against the joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. Yashwant Sinha is a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, former Union minister and currently a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday praised Droupadi Murmu and said, "Droupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalised. She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation." The Presidential election is scheduled to take place on July 18, 2022. Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik and Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar have also extended their support to Murmu. If she wins, Droupadi Murmu will become the first tribal and second woman to be the President of India . Here are some facts about NDA's Presidential candidate, Droupadi Murmu.
Droupadi Murmu | 10 interesting facts
1. Draupadi Murmu was born on June 20, 1958, in Baidaposi village of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha. She worked as a teacher before entering into state politics.
2. She is an alumnus of Rama Devi Women's College and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree.
3. After winning elections in 1997, Murmu served as councillor in the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat and as vice-president of the BJP’s Scheduled Tribes Morcha.
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4. Murmu fought on a BJP ticket from Odisha and has been a two time MLA from Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj (2000 and 2009).
5. She held the Commerce and Transport, and, subsequently, the Fisheries and Animal Husbandry ministry, During the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) coalition government in Odisha in 2000.
6. She also created history in 2015 by becoming the first woman Governor of Jharkhand.
7. Murmu had bagged the 'best legislator' award in 2007 (Nilakantha Sanman).
8. Interestingly, 5 years ago too, she was considered to be the Presidential candidate, when the tenure of President Pranab Mukherjee was about to end.
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9. Droupadi Murmu married Shyam Charan Murmu. The couple had two sons(both of whom died) and has a daughter who is married and settled in Bhubaneshwar. Murmu also lost her husband due to cardiac arrest.
10. Murmu is expected to win the Presidential elections 2022 with the NDA commanding 48% of the electoral vote.
