Presidential elections 2022: Draupadi Murmu files nomination, PM Modi present

New Delhi, Jun 24: The National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) Presidential candidate, former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu filed her nomination today in the presence of PM Modi, Union cabinet ministers & CMs of BJP & NDA-ruled states. PM Modi handed over the set of papers to Returning Officer P C Mody.

According to ANI, Draupadi Murmu speaks with Congress interim-President Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar seeking their party's support for her candidature in the Presidential election.

Leaders of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the YSRCP, who are not part of the NDA have extended support ro Murmu's candidature for the highest post in India.

In a show of strength, Murmu was also accompanied by union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, BJP president J P Nadda and several chief ministers including Yogi Adityanath, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar, B S Bommai, Bhupendra Patel, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Pushkar Singh Dhami, Pramod Sawant and N Biren Singh. Besides the NDA leaders, YSR Congress' V Vijaysai Reddy and BJD leader Sasmit Patra, who are not part of the alliance, were also in Parliament to back her nomination.

AIADMK leader O Paneerselvam and M Thambidurai, JD-U's Rajiv Ranjan Singh also reached Parliament early. Every set of nomination has to have 50 proposers and 50 seconders among elected representatives.

If elected, she would be India's first tribal President She is the second woman President of India.

Murmu hails from Odisha and has been the tribal face of the party in the national level for many years.

She is also the first woman leader from Odisha to be appointed as Governor. She began her political career in 1997 when she was elected councilor in the Rajrangpur district in Odisha. She was elected as MLA from the same constituency in 2000.

Prior to joining politics, she served as the honorary assistant teacher in Shri Aravindo Integral Education and Research, Rairangpur, and also as junior assistant in Irrigation Department.

She was also the National Executive Member of the ST Morcha of the BJP till 2009. Between 2000 and 2004, she held many ministerial portfolios in the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal government, having departments like Transport and Commerce along with Fisheries and Animal Husbandry under her supervision.

She was awarded the Nilakantha Award for best MLA of the year by the Odisha Assembly. She also served as BJP district president of Mayurbhanj from 2002 to 2009 and also in 2013. She continued in that post until took over as the Governor of Jharkhand.