Indian Presidential Election 2022: BJP-led NDA picks Droupadi Murmu as candidate

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA on Tuesday (June 21) has announced Droupadi Murmu as a candidate for the upcoming Indian Presidential elections. Murmu is a tribal leader of the party from Odisha - an eastern Indian state.  

In 2015, Murmu was sworn in as the first woman Governor of Jharkhand. Murmu started her career as a teacher after that she entered Odisha politics in 1997. She is the first governor of Jharkhand to complete the five-year term, since its formation in the year 2000. 

After the announcement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the former Jharkhand governor has devoted her life to serving society and expressed confidence that she will be a "great President". 

PM Modi tweeted, "Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalised. She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation." 

"Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country," he added. 

Earlier, Yashwant Sinha, the former union minister in the BJP government who walked away from the party, was unanimously chosen as the common candidate of opposition parties for the presidential election in India. 

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind's term will end on July 24 this year and the election for the next President of India will be held on July 18. The counting of votes will take place on July 21 and the new president will take oath on July 25. 

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