Draupadi Murmu is India’s 15th President
| Date :22-Jul-2022 |
The Hitavada Correspondent and Agencies
NEW DELHI,
HISTORY found a new name today -- Mrs. Draupadi Murmu -- who sailed through the counting of votes for the Presidential election comfortably, sealing the defeat of joint Opposition candidate by record margin, even as counting continued upto late evening.
Even as the Election Commission official announced the half-way results, the country’s tribal population across ideologies and political affiliation exploded into traditional rejoicing by dance and music and singing in a maddening enthusiasm. The country’s common people, too, started congratulating themselves for having been part of a democratic eco-system that allows a tribal woman to become the First Citizen of India.
Soon after Draupadi Murmu’s victory became a certainty, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Jagat Prasad Nadda visited the Murmu household to pay respect to her.
Murmu won by an overwhelming margin against Sinha after receiving over 64 per cent valid votes in a day-long counting of ballots of MPs and MLAs, comprising the electoral college, to succeed Ram Nath Kovind to become the country’s 15th President. Yashwant Sinha got 36 per cent of the valid votes polled.
At 64, the woman who will be India’s 15th President will also be the youngest and India’s first President to be born after Independence. She is also the second woman to become the President. She will be sworn in on July 25.
After the end of the counting process that continued for more than 10 hours, returning officer P C Mody declared Murmu as the winner and said that she got 6,76,803 votes against Sinha’s 3,80,177 votes. Her victory was sealed after the third round itself when the Returning officer announced that Murmu had already received over 53 per cent of the total valid votes even as Ballots from 10 States and Union Territories were still being counted.
Immediately after the announcement of the NDA presidential nominee crossing the halfway mark, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President J P Nadda visited Murmu at her residence here to congratulate her.
“India scripts history. At a time when 1.3 billion Indians are marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a daughter of India hailing from a tribal community born in a remote part of eastern India has been elected our President!,” Modi tweeted He congratulated Murmu on being elected to the top Constitutional post.
“Draupadi Murmu Ji’s life, her early struggles, her rich service and her exemplary success motivates each and every Indian. She has emerged as a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, marginalised and the downtrodden,” he said in a series of tweets.
The Prime Minister also thanked all MPs and MLAs across party lines who supported her candidature and said her “record victory” augurs well for our democracy. “Draupadi Murmu Ji has been an outstanding MLA and Minister. She had an excellent tenure as Jharkhand Governor. I am certain she will be an outstanding President who will lead from the front and strengthen India’s development journey,” he said.
Soon after counting began and she inched towards the halfway mark, celebrations began in her native town of Rairangpur congratulating “Odisha’s daughter”, with folk artists and tribal dancers performing on the streets. Murmu belongs to one of the largest tribal groups in the country, the Santhals.
Murmu’s tribal background not only helped catapult her to the top post, but the BJP by fielding her is also eyeing crucial votes of the ST community in upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which have a significant tribal population, besides the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
This also helped her get the support of a number of independent parties including BJD, YSRCP, AIADMK, TDP, BSP, JDS and SAD, besides opposition’s JMM, Shiv Sena and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party in her victory run.
By nominating her, the BJP is also seeking to get its foothold in Odisha’s tribal-dominated belt, which it has been eyeing ever since it snapped ties with BJD in 2009. Odisha goes to the polls along with the 2024 general elections and so does Andhra Pradesh, where there is a significant tribal population.
Sources said 17 MPs from Opposition parties have cross-voted in her support.
Among the States where votes were counted include Andhra Pradesh, where Murmu received almost all the votes, besides Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisharh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Eight MPs did not vote in the presidential election, Mody said. Going by the strength of the parties which officially extended support to Murmu, she is estimated to have got votes of five to six more MPs. As many as 538 MPs of various parties had extended their support to Murmu ahead of the election, but a few of them did not vote.