Draupadi Murmu is an Indian politician. She is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She is the official nominee of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance for the 2022 presidential election. She previously served as the ninth Governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021.
Born: 20 June 1958 (age 64 years), Odisha
Spouse: Shyam Charan Murmu
Education: Ramadevi Women's University
Parents: Biranchi Narayan Tudu
Party: Bharatiya Janata Party
Previous offices: Governor of Jharkhand (2015–2021), Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly (2000–2009)
Children: Itishri Murmu
Personal life
Draupadi Murmu was born in a Santali tribal family on June 20, 1958, in Baidaposi village of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, to Biranchi Narayan Tudu. Both her father and grandfather were village heads under the Panchayati Raj system.
Draupadi Murmu married Shyam Charan Murmu. The couple had two sons, both of whom died, and a daughter.
Career
Teaching career
Murmu started out as a school teacher before entering state politics. She worked as an assistant professor at the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research, Rairangpur and as a Junior Assistant at the irrigation department of the Government of Odisha.
State politics
Murmu joint the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1997 and was elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. She also served as the national vice-president of Bharathiya Janata Party Scheduled Tribes Morcha.
During the Bharatiya Janata Party and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha, she was the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Commerce and Transport from March 6, 2000 to August 6, 2002 and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from August 6, 2002 to May 16, 2004. She is former Odisha Minister and an MLA from Rairangpur Assembly constituency in the years 2000 and 2004. She was conferred Nilkantha Award for best MLA by Odisha Legislative Assembly in 2007.
Governorship
She was the first woman Governor of Jharkhand. She was the first female adivasi leader from Odisha to get appointed as a governor of an Indian state.
Draupadi Murmu 2022 presidential campaign
In June 2022, the BJP nominated Murmu as the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for President of India for the 2022 election the following month.