DROUPADI'S INDRAPRASTHA

By selecting Droupadi Murmu as its presidential candidate, the BJP has ticked all the right boxes. Highlighting her journey from India's tribal heartland to the pinnacle of its constitutional establishment is part of the party's grand strategy to engage marginalised communities and consolidate its hold on power

- PRATUL SHARMA

JOURNEY SO FAR

DoB: June 20, 1958, in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district

Educational qualification: BA

CAREER

Junior assistant, state secretariat. Quit after a few years

Became a teacher when her own children started school

POLITICS

Joined the BJP and was elected a councillor in 1997

Two-time MLA (2000, 2004); handled multiple ministries

Won the best legislator award in 2007

2015-2021: Governor of Jharkhand

FAMILY

Father: Biranchi Narayan Tudu, farmer

Husband: Shyam Charan Murmu, was a bank employee (deceased)

Children: Daughter Itishree Murmu is a banker; a daughter and two sons died

Grandchild: Itishree has a two-year-old daughter with her husband, Ganesh Chandra Hembram, a sportsperson

Not everyone gets a birthday gift like Droupadi Murmu did. A day after she turned 64, BJP president J.P. Nadda announced that she would be the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for the post of president. She is set to occupy the country's top constitutional post, as a few nonNDA parties like the Biju Janata Dal have already offered her support. As the country's 15th president, she will have many firsts to her credit.

In Murmu, India will have its first president from the tribal community, which constitutes over eight per cent of the country's population. Like Narendra Modi, who was the first prime minister to be born after independence, Murmu will be the first president to be born in independent India. The symbolism is clear as she will take over as president in the 75th year of independence.