May the new First Citizen succeed as guardian of the Constitution
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With a higher than expected majority, Draupadi Murmu has been elected as the 15th President of India in the 75th year of independence. Noted earlier as the first governor of the country from a tribal community, Draopadi will now on be known as the country's first tribal President and the first President born post-independence, besides being the youngest President. The RSS had already perceived Draupadi Murmu's induction as the best political move to strengthen their credibility and facilitate access to the tribal and Dalit communities in the eastern and north-eastern region. And thus her rise to India's highest office constitutes part of a very precise political strategy. Murmu's name had earlier been considered seriously by the BJP in the context of the last presidential election.
BJP succeeded in dividing the opposition and gaining political legitimacy through giving her the nomination. Just as Dalit identity in UP has been merged with Hindutva, this crucial advance through the Presidential election is also a decisive step in the Sangh Parivar's efforts to convert the tribal groups of the eastern region into a Hindutva vote bank. The impact of this is likely to be reflected not only in Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar but also in West Bengal. Draupadi Murmu, who grew up from an unfavorable social milieu through hard work, assumes the highest office of the Constitution and the nation at a very crucial time, at the same time representing the women's life experiences marked by discrimination. Tribals, women and minorities are the most marginalized and disempowered communities in the country.
Murmu, as the supreme figure protected by the constitution from such a society at the bottom, should be able to feel the pain of those denied justice and stand by them. During her tenure as Jharkhand governor, she had shown the courage to send back the BJP government's bill to ease the transfer of tribal land. The pertinent question is whether, being trusted as she is by the sangh parivar, Murmu will be willing to listen to the quest for justice envisioned by the Constitution. At the least, she should be able to meet the expectations of tribals who are hit worst by corporate development. We express a heartfelt wish that her name go down in history as a brave President who stood up as the guardian of the Constitution.
