Hopes and excitement run high in Murmu's home town
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Ranchi: Hours after she was announced running for Rashtrapati Bhavan, Droupadi Murmu swept the floor of a nearby temple at dawn—a ritual she has been observing for too long.
People of the village of Uparbeda Panchayat in Rairangpur Municipality, where she was born, are overly excited about the news.
They lined up for a glimpse of her around her house just as CRPF commandos rounded up the temple where she offered prayers, according to The Indian Express.
On Wednesday the 64-year-old took a flight from Bhubaneshwar to New Delhi to start the campaign for the president.
Her sister-in-law Sakramani Tudu reportedly said that when security personnel asked Murmu to reduce her pubic interaction for now, she said she owed her rise to the people.
Jamuna Hembrem, a resident of the village, recalled how Murmu as a lawmaker built up the village with new roads and bridges connecting people with outer places.
Murmu served just the same as a minister in the BJD-BJP coalition government from 2000 to 2004.
Uparbeda Panchayat's 15,000 residents are primarily of Adivasi and OBC communities.
Hembrem would ask the would-be president for a permanent doctor at the Primary Health Centre, as well as jobs for the youths, a hostel for girls and a railway station.
The would-be presidents' daughter Itishree Murmu, said her mother broke down at the news of the candidature.
Itishree Murmu reportedly said her mother came up breaking all social stigma beginning with pursuing education in Bhubaneshwar before the nineties when there were no roads.
Murmu demurely said how surprised she was at the news of her candidature for the top post which she had not thought coming her way.
She told reporters at her residence that she had not been attending political programmes for more than six years. She hoped that everybody would support her.
Murmu in all likelihood would make it to the Rashtrapati Bhavan as she has 52 percent votes now after BJD openly backed her.
The deadline to file nominations is June 29 and the result of the election will be out on July 21.