Poor in India can dream, says its first tribal president
INDIA’s first president from a marginalized tribal community, Droupadi Murmu, said on Monday (25) after being sworn in that her election was an “achievement of every poor person in the country”.
Murmu’s elevation to India’s highest constitutional post has been seen as an important gesture of goodwill by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the communities that make up more than 8 percent of its 1.4 billion people ahead of a general election due by 2024.
Murmu, a former teacher and state minister from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the second woman to hold the largely ceremonial role of president. She was born into a poor family of the Santhal tribe from the eastern state of Odisha.
Members of parliament and of state legislatures elected Murmu last week for a five-year term after she was nominated by the BJP.
“My election is proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too,” Murmu, 64, said in a speech in parliament after taking the oath of office.
“It is a matter of great satisfaction for me that those who have been deprived for centuries and those who have been denied the benefits of development, those poor, downtrodden, backwards and tribals are seeing their reflection in me.”
Modi hailed Murmu’s swearing-in a “watershed moment for India, especially for the poor, marginalised and downtrodden”.
India’s president acts as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces but the prime minister holds executive powers.
The president can play an important role during political crises, such as when a general election is inconclusive, by deciding which party is in the best position to form a government.
A boost for Modi’s image
Lawmakers chose India’s first president from the country’s tribal communities on Thursday (21), which could boost the appeal of Modi’s party.
More than 4,500 state and federal lawmakers voted in the presidential election on Monday (18) and ballots were counted on Thursday. Murmu’s victory was assured as she was backed by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), which dominates federal and state politics.
“A daughter of India hailing from a tribal community born in a remote part of eastern India has been elected our President!” Modi said on Twitter.
Murmu started her career as a school teacher and actively participated in community issues.
She later joined mainstream politics and served as a BJP state lawmaker in Odisha before becoming governor of the eastern state of Jharkhand.
“The BJP will want to offset any anti-incumbency of the last 10 years in 2024, and one of the ways to do that is to go for a new votebase,” political columnist Neerja Choudhary told Reuters.
Murmu beat the opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP finance minister and now a fierce critic of Modi, winning nearly twice as many votes.
Murmu will take over from Ram Nath Kovind.
Xi Jinping congratulates new president Chinese president Xi Jinping on Monday congratulated his Indian counterpart Droupadi Murmu on assuming office, saying he stands ready to work with her to enhance political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and properly handle differences.
In a congratulatory message, Xi pointed out that China and India are important neighbours and that a healthy and stable China-India relationship is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people, as well as conducive to peace, stability and development in the region and across the world.
Xi also said that he attaches great importance to China-India relations, and stands ready to work with Murmu to enhance political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, properly handle differences and push bilateral ties forward on the right track, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Murmu, India’s youngest president at 64 and the first to be born after Independence, took oath of office on Monday. Chief Justice of India N V Ramana administered her oath at a ceremony held at the Parliament’s Central Hall.