New Delhi, July 25: Droupadi Murmu on Monday was sworn in as 15th President of India at the Central Hall of the Parliament in New Delhi followed by a 21 gun salute. “Your faith in me has given me strength. I have got this responsibility at such an important time as it is India’s 75 year of Independence. I am also the first President to be born after India got its Independence,” said President Murmu in her first address, while adding, “This is not only my achievement. It is the achievement of all the poor in the country. The poor can dare to dream now. With their blessings and the support of the mothers and daughters of the country I am standing here in front of you now.” Murmu, 64, is also India’s youngest President.

On Thursday, Murmu had scripted history by becoming the first person from the tribal community to occupy India’s top constitutional post after she bagged 64% votes of the electoral college to defeat Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. She got 2824 first preference votes, valued at 6,76,803 votes, while Sinha had only managed to get 1,877 first preference votes, valued at 3,80,177.

The first tribal President of India’s name Droupadi, based on a character of the epic ‘Mahabharata’ was given by her school teacher. In an interview with an Odia video magazine some time ago, she revealed that her Santhali name “Puti” was changed to Droupadi by a teacher in school.

“Droupadi was not my original name. It was given by my teacher who hailed from another district, not from my native Mayurbhanj,” Murmu told the magazine. Teachers in the tribal-dominated Mayurbanjh district used to travel from either Balasore or Cuttack in the 1960s, she claimed. “The teacher did not like my previous name and changed it for good,” she said when the magazine asked why she is called Droupadi, a name similar to the ‘Mahabharata’ character. She had also mentioned that her name was changed several times – from “Durpadi” to “Dorpdi”. She stated that names do not die in Santhali culture.-PTI