Droupadi Murmu (64) is the 15th President of the Republic: she is not only the first tribal -- hers is a life-story of constant struggle, sheer grit and determination – but is also the second woman in the Rashtrapati Bhavan after Pratibha Patil, in what has been essentially a male preserve.
PM Modi’s first pick, the outgoing President Ramnath Kovid, a Dalit from Kanpur, while in office has been low-key but correct and dignified. And now Murmu, whose journey from a tribal hamlet in Odisha’s backwaters to Rashtrapati Bhawan epitomises the struggle of millions of her compatriots who have risen from grinding poverty and squalor by dint of their hard work and dedication.
The ruling NDA's nominee crossed the crucial 50% threshold, securing 53.13 per cent of the total vote value after three rounds of counting, to triumph over her rival Yashwant Sinha. There is still one more round to go, in which votes of nine states and two Union Territories will be counted.
It was not immediately clear how much of the non-NDA vote she attracted but sources said 17 opposition MPs cross-voted in her support. An official announcement on her win is expected after all votes are counted. The Election Commission is likely to issue 'certificate of election' to the winning candidate on Friday.
There is no party whip or penalty for cross-voting.
Of course, there was a contest, but Sinha, a BJP rebel-turned-detractor of PM Modi, was hardly in a position to pose a serious challenge. Conceding defeat, Sinha congratulated Murmu and said that every Indian hopes that she functions as the "custodian of the Constitution" without fear or favour.
PM Modi and BJP president J P Nadda visited Murmu's residence to congratulate her.
After graduating at a time when Adivasi women hardly went to college, Murmu started life as a government clerk before resigning to become a school teacher. A few years later, she joined active politics and was twice elected to the State Assembly, serving as a minister in the BJD-BJP government under Navin Patnaik. Between 2015 and 2021, she was the Governor of Jharkhand.
According to our correspondent in Ahmedabad, two tribal MLAs of the Bharatiya Tribal Party, currently in a pre-poll alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, one NCP legislator Kandhal Jadeja and one Congress MLA cast their vote for the NDA nominee.
Rairangpur, Murmu’s hometown in Odisha, erupted in celebrations as the trend became clear. The naming of a tribal nominee was a political masterstroke: it caught the opposition off guard and brought on board non-aligned parties, such as Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal and Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress. Apart from the optics, the symbolism and the political message to the tribal community in Gujarat and elsewhere -- which will Assembly elections in due course – go far beyond the presidential vote count.
