Bhubaneswar: November 27 will witness the historic return of President Droupadi Murmu to the place where she started her political career as an MLA.
A two-time member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, Murmu is scheduled to address the inaugural winter session of the House at 4 pm on Friday afternoon here. She will also visit Room Number 11, the chamber where she worked during her tenure as a legislator. The Vidhan Sabha premises have been spruced up and chambers refurbished for the occasion.
Describing the occasion as momentous, Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy said that Murmu served as an MLA for nine years and was also a cabinet minister. Her visit to address the House as the President is truly historic, she added.
Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati is also slated to attend the session. Odisha MPs and eminent personalities from different walks of life will also be present.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened across Bhubaneswar and also in and around the Odisha Legislative Assembly for the President’s visit. A comprehensive four-tier security cover has been activated with extensive police deployment outside the Assembly and along key routes as a part of a joint security mechanism, involving central and state agencies.
The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police has put in place a dedicated three-tier arrangement, supplemented by President’s Bodyguard (PBG) commandos and other specialised units. Barricades will be erected along the routes from the airport to Raj Bhavan and from Raj Bhavan to the Assembly to ensure smooth and secure passage, sources said.
Political Journey
Murmu’s political career reflects a gradual ascent rooted in public service. From 1979 to 1983, she served as a junior assistant in the Irrigation and Power Department of the Odisha government. Subsequently, between 1994 and 1997, she worked as a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Centre in Rairangpur.
In 1997 Murmu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and was elected as councillor of the Rairangpur Notified Area Council (NAC), and later became its chairperson. She was first elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj in 2000 and also served as a minister during the BJP-BJD coalition government in Odisha. She held independent charge for commerce and transport and later fisheries and animal resources development as minister of state (2000-2004). She was conferred the Nilkanth award in 2007 for best MLA by Odisha Legislative Assembly.
Murmu retained her seat in 2009 elections when BJD snapped ties with BJP and swept the polls.
In 2015, she was appointed the Governor of Jharkhand, becoming the first woman tribal governor of any tribal-majority state in India. In this role, she opposed the state BJP government’s proposed amendment to a 1908 law that would have given tribal people in the state the right to let the government make commercial use of tribal land, including leasing such land.
Murmu took oath of office as the 15th President of India on July 25, 2022, and created history by being the first tribal head of State.
In November 2022, the President had addressed a special session of the Mizoram Assembly.
