Odisha’s chief minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed to all the members of the Odisha assembly, across all parties, to support Draupadi Murmu in the upcoming Presidential elections. On 22nd June 2022, Naveen Patnaik tweeted and asked the MLAs of the Odisha state assembly to cast their vote in favor of Draupadi Murmu, the NDA candidate in the Presidential elections.
Naveen Patnaik wrote, “Appeal all the members of Odisha Legislative Assembly, cutting across party lines, to extend unanimous support to elect the daughter of Odisha Smt Draupadi Murmu to the country’s highest office.”
Appeal all the members of Odisha Legislative Assembly, cutting across party lines, to extend unanimous support to elect the daughter of #Odisha – Smt #DraupadiMurmu to the country’s highest office.
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) June 22, 2022
On June 21, Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced former Governor of Jharkhand Droupadi Murmu’s name as its Presidential candidate for the upcoming elections scheduled for July 18, 2022. Before the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi headed a BJP Parliamentary Board meeting. BJP Chief JP Nadda announced Murmu’s candidature in a press conference following the board meeting. She will file her nomination on June 25.
Speaking to ANI after the announcement, she said, “I’m surprised. I wasn’t able to believe it. I’m thankful, do not wish to speak much. Whatever powers are there of a President in the Constitution, I’ll work accordingly.” She added, “Our work is to go to people, reach out to members of Electoral College and seek their cooperation. I will request all parties and states for support.”
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. Itishree’s husband Ganesh Hembram is a rugby player and the young couple has a little daughter.
She was elected as a councilor in 1997 and became the vice-chairperson of the Rairangpur NAC. She became MLA from the same constituency. In 2000, he became Minister of State (Independent Charge) at Transport and Commerce Department in the Odisha government and served till 2004 when BJP was in a coalition government with Naveen Patnaik’s BJD. During the same period, she also handled the Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries as Minister of State.
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 Honorable 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.
Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal is the first non-NDA party to extend support to the NDA candidate in the Presidential elections to be held in July 2022.
