Droupadi Murmu Oath Taking Ceremony: President-elect Droupadi Murmu will take oath of office of the highest constitutional post of the country on Monday. Murmu, India's first tribal woman to become President, will take the oath of office followed by a 21 gun salute, the home ministry said. She will then deliver an address to the nation.
Here are 10 points to note ahead of the oath-taking ceremony
- Before the ceremony, the outgoing President and the President-elect will arrive in Parliament in a ceremonial procession.
- Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Members of the Council of Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, heads of diplomatic missions, Members of Parliament and principal civil and military officers of the government will attend the ceremony.
- On the conclusion of the ceremony in the central hall of the Parliament, the President will leave for Rashtrapati Bhavan where an inter-services guard of honour will be given to her in the forecourt and courtesies will be extended to the outgoing President.
- Murmu, 64, scripted history on Thursday after defeating Opposition Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha in an one-sided contest. She would become India's first tribal President.
- She won the election by an overwhelming margin against Sinha after receiving over 64 per cent valid votes of MPs and MLAs, comprising the electoral college, to succeed Ram Nath Kovind to become the country's 15th president. Murmu got 6,76,803 votes against Sinha's 3,80,177 votes.
- She will be the first President to be born after independence and is the youngest to occupy the top post. She is also the second woman to become the President.
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Droupadi Murmu's victory in the presidential election was a reply to those who only talk about tribal empowerment but divide communities through their politics.
- President-elect Droupadi Murmu may wear a traditional Santali saree when she takes the oath. Her sister-in-law Sukri Tudu is travelling to Delhi with a special saree used by Santal women in Eastern India. The Santali sarees have some stripe work on one end and is worn by the Santal women on special occasions.
- She will also become the 10th successive president to take oath on July 25 since 1977. Records show that since 1977, successive presidents have taken oath on July 25.
- Coming from a humble tribal family of Uparbeda village near Rairangpur, 64-year-old Murmu has come a long way from a councilor to an MLA, a minister and Jharkhand Governor to being elected President of India. There were celebrations everywhere in Odisha as `ladoos' were distributed even on Saturday at the Bhubaneswar railway station.
(with PTI inputs)
