Droupadi Murmu Versus Yashwant Sinha : Meet The Presidential Candidates For Upcoming Elections
The picture for the upcoming election for the President of India has now become clear with the ruling BJP-led NDA and the opposition alliance announcing their candidates.
The NDA has nominated Draupadi Murmu for the top job.
BJP picks Droupadi Murmu
If elected, she will be the first tribal person, male or female to become the President of India and only the second woman to do so.
Though she has been in politics for a long time, most people outside her home state of Odisha and Jharkhand, where she served as the governor heard her name for the first time in 2017.
In the run-up to the 2017 Presidential elections too the name of Murmu was being projected as the NDA candidate.?
Her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had fuelled the speculations, but eventually, the NDA went with Ramnath Kovind.
Who is?Droupadi Murmu?
Born on June 20, 1958, Murmu hails from Parbeda village and Kusumi block of the Mayurbhanj district in Odisha.
She is a member of the Santhal tribe to which legendary freedom fighter Birsa Munda also belonged.
Draupadi Mumru was a teacher before she entered politics in 1997 with the BJP.
She is a two-term MLA who also served as a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government between 2000 to 2004, where she held several portfolios including the ministry of transport and commerce; and Fisheries & Animal Husbandry departments.
In 2015 Draupadi Mumru created history when she became the first tribal woman Governor in the country.?
Draupadi Mumru served as the governor of Jharkhand for six years from May 18, 2015.
Her term in office which was to end in May 2020 got extended by another year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She left the Jharkhand Raj Bhavan for her village in Odisha's Rairangpur on July 12, 2021, and has been living there since then.
Opposition's struggle to find a candidate?
While the BJP had its candidate sorted out without much of an effort, the opposition alliance had a tough time finding one.
The first three names the opposing parties had suggested - NCP leader Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi said no to being nominated for the post.
The opposition parties led by Trinamool Congress then suggested the name of political veteran Yashwant Sinha for the job.
Yashwant Sinha's journey from IAS to politics?
Sinha, a former BJP leader, joined the TMC last year ahead of the assembly polls and was made a national vice-president of the party.
Before his political entry, Sinha was an IAS officer from 1960 and 1984.
Sinha quit the service to join Janata Party and became a Rajya Sabha MP and a minister in the Chandra Shekhar government.
In 1993 Sinha switched sides to BJP and was a three-term Lok Sabha MP from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.
In the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, Sinha had served as Minister of Finance and External Affairs.
Sinha started distancing himself from the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and quit the party in 2018.
He joined the TMC last year ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections.
The late date for filing nominations for the Presidential election is June 29, the polling will take place on July 18 and the votes will be counted on July 21.?
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