Former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu is NDA's presidential candidate

Murmu was the first woman governor of Jharkhand and if elected will be the first tribal President of India and the second female President of the country after Pratibha Patil.

New Delhi:Former Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu has been nominated as NDA's presidential candidate. The announcement was made by BJP president JP Nadda on Tuesday, after a key brainstorming session attended by party seniors including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Born on June 20, 1958, Murmu was the first woman governor of Jharkhand and if elected will be the first tribal President of India and the second female President of the country after Pratibha Patil. She will also be the first President from Odisha once elected. Draupadi being announced as the presidential candidate came after the party's parliamentary board meeting in Delhi on Tuesday.

"Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalised. She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation," Modi wrote in twitter.

"Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country," he said.

On Sunday, Nadda co-chaired the key meet along with Modi to choose the candidate where members of the management team were present. The meeting was attended by senior leaders like Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Ashwini Vaishnaw, G Kishan Reddy, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Vinod Tawde, CT Ravi, Sambit Patra and others.

Notably, Nadda and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh were entrusted with the responsibility of holding talks with all political parties over the candidate for presidential polls. They held talks with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah.

The late date for filing nominations is June 29, the polling will take place on July 18 and the votes will be counted on July 21. The tenure of President Ram Nath Kovind ends on July 24.