News Desk :
Droupadi Murmu on Monday took oath as the 15th president of India. She was sworn in by Chief Justice NV Ramana.
Murmu is the first tribal woman to hold the post. The 64-year-old is from Odisha and has served as the governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021, reports Scroll.in
A National Democratic Alliance candidate, Murmu became the president after defeating the opposition’s pick, Yashwant Sinha, in the polls held on July 18. The results were declared on Thursday.
After four rounds of polling, Murmu had received 2,824 votes of 676,803 value while Sinha got 1,877 votes or 380,177 value. She received 64.03% of the total valid votes polled.
Earlier on Monday, Murmu, who arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, paid tribute to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or Mahatma Gandhi, at Raj Ghat.
Outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind extended their greetings to Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, reported ANI. “That I attained the post of President is not my personal achievement, it is the achievement of every poor person in India. My election is a proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too.”said Madam President after being sworn in by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana at Parliament’s Central Hall.Ms Murmu, who succeeds Ram Nath Kovind, is India’s youngest President at 64 and the first to be born after Independence. She took her oath of office in Hindi and in the name of God to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law”. “It is a tribute to the power of our democracy that a daughter born in a poor house in a remote tribal area can reach the highest constitutional position in India. That I attained the post of President is not my personal achievement,
it is the achievement of every poor person in India,” she said in her address, marking her journey from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj – one of the most underdeveloped districts in India– to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Former President Ram Nath Kovind, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and CJI Ramana were on the dais while other dignitaries including former President of India Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seated in the front row seat of the historic Central Hall.
Prime Minister Modi said that Ms Murmu assuming the Presidency is a “watershed moment” for the “poor,marginalised and downtrodden”.
“In her address after taking oath, President Droupadi Murmu Ji gave a message of hope and compassion. She emphasised on India’s accomplishments and presented a futuristic vision of the path ahead at a time when India is marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,”Mr Modi said.
