By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 25, 2022: Draupadi Murmu was sworn in Monday as the 15th President of the Republic of India. Murmu was sworn to the highest constitutional post at the Central Hall of Parliament in New Delhi.

She is now the first tribal and the second woman President of India. Before the swearing-in function, Draupadi Murmu visited Rajghat in Delhi to pay tributes to MK Gandhi.

She is also the first President born in independent India.

The Chief Justice of India N V Ramana administered the oath of office to the President at 10.15 AM, after which she swapped seats with outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind. Murmu signed the oath register presented to her by the President’s secretary. Following the new President’s consent, the home secretary issued the proclamation of appointment of the new president.

The outgoing President Kovind and President-elect Murmu arrived at Parliament House at 10:03 a.m. There, they were welcomed by CJI Ramana, Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla, and outgoing Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Council of Ministers, governors of individual states, chief ministers including Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, chiefs of diplomatic missions, Members of Parliament, and senior civil and military officials from the government also attended the event.

On July 21, NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu decisively defeated opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha in the election to become India’s next president. She received 2824 first preference votes worth 6,76,803 votes, whereas Sinha received just 1,877 first preference votes worth 3,80,177 votes.

Draupadi Murmu has a political career spanning over 20 years. Hailing from Odisha, she was born in a Santal Tribal family on June 20, 1958, in village Uparbeda of district Mayurbhanj.

She gained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar and then worked as a Junior Assistant in Irrigation and Power Department from 1979 to 1983 in the Odisha government. In 1994, she joined as a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur and continued serving at the institute till 1997. She got married to Shyam Charan Murmu and had three children. Her husband and two sons have passed away. Her daughter Itishri Murmu is married and settled in Bhubaneshwar, where she works at UCO Bank.

She was elected as a councillor in 1997 and became the vice-chairperson of the Rairangpur NAC. She became MLA from the same constituency. From the year 2002 to 2009, Murmu was a national executive member of BJP’s ST Morcha. She served as state president for the same between 2006 to 2009. From the year 2013 to April 2015, she served as a national executive member of ST Morcha.

From the year 2015 to 2021, she served as Governor of Jharkhand. She was the first woman Governor for the state and the first female tribal leader to serve as a Governor in any Indian state.

Meanwhile, the Odisha Assembly on Monday passed a resolution congratulating Droupadi Murmu for assuming the highest constitutional post of India.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Niranjan Pujari moved the resolution which was unanimously passed in the House.

Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha has informed that he would consider the proposal for felicitation of Murmu by the MLAs in New Delhi.