Droupadi Murmu

About

Droupadi Murmu is the 15th President of India, having taken office on 25 July 2022. Born on 20 June 1958 into a Santhal tribal family in Uparbeda village, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, she overcame poverty to become the first woman from her village to earn a college degree, graduating in Political Science and Economics from Ramadevi Women's College, Bhubaneswar. She began her career as a junior assistant in Odisha's Irrigation and Power Department before working as an honorary teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre in Rairangpur. Entering politics with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1997, she served as a councillor and later Vice-Chairperson of Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat, then as a two-term Member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly (2000-2009), holding ministerial portfolios in Commerce & Transport and Fisheries & Animal Resources Development. In 2015, she became Governor of Jharkhand, the first woman and first tribal person to hold that post, serving until 2021. In 2022, the BJP-led NDA nominated her as its presidential candidate, and she won the election decisively against opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha, becoming India's first President from a tribal community, the second woman president after Pratibha Patil, and the first president born after India's independence. Murmu has faced significant personal tragedy, losing her husband Shyam Charan Murmu and both her sons. She remains an advocate for tribal welfare, education, and women's empowerment.

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