President Droupadi Murmu
The India Commentary view
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-07-22 07:01:34
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The India Commentary view
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It was
evident from the day the NDA announced the name of Droupadi Murmu as its
nominee for the presidential elections that her candidature would further split
an already fractured opposition. Although the opposition had put up a joint
candidate in Yashwant Sinha, Murmu's credentials as a tribal woman politician who
had fought against several odds to champion the cause of the marginalized and
downtrodden communities all her life were enough to make some opposition
parties support her. That is exactly what happened. As she was a tribal and had
been the governor of Jharkhand, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which rules
Jharkhand in alliance with the Congress and the RJD, broke rank and announced
its support for Murmu. As she hails from Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) also
decided to support her. In the end, a huge number of MPs and MLAs from the
opposition parties cross-voted in her favour and she won the elections with a
handsome margin to become the 15th President of India.
Although
the Indian Presidency is just a Constitutional post without any executive or legislative
powers, the President is the custodian of the Constitution and every executive
action is done in his or her name. The very fact that India has elected a
tribal woman as its President shows that democracy, despite obvious and deep
flaws, has deep roots in the country and even a person from marginalized
sections of society can reach the top. President Murmu will give hope to the
100 million strong tribal community and all other marginalized sections of
Indian society. She assumes office at a time when the nation is divided over
many issues and many democratic institutions are under threat. She will also be
in office when the nation is likely to have its most hotly-contested elections
in 2024. It will be keenly watched how she upholds the dignity of the office in
these troubled times when the government and the opposition are constantly at
war with each other over the pettiest of issues.
