Draupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha, was picked as the ruling NDA's presidential candidate by the BJP's parliamentary board on Tuesday. J P Nadda, the BJP's president, made the announcement at a press conference following a meeting of the party's top brass. For the first time, a woman tribal candidate has been given preference. 'We are announcing Draupadi Murmu as the NDA's presidential candidate,' BJP chief JP Nadda stated. If Murmu (64), a former governor of Jharkhand, is elected, she will be the first tribal woman to hold the highest constitutional position, which is a real possibility given the BJP-led NDA's numerical advantage. Earlier, the opposition announced Yashwant Sinha as a joint contender for the role. Sinha served in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA administration as a Union Minister. On July 18, a presidential election will be held.
