A look at 10 facts about Droupadi Murmu, India’s first and youngest President.

Droupadi Murmu, a leading candidate in the presidential election of 2022, is widely regarded as a spiritual figure who practices the Brahma Kumaris’ meditation techniques.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee Droupadi Murmu defeated opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha on Thursday to become India’s 15th President. Murmu, 64, won the election with 6,76,803 votes, while her opponent, former Union Minister Sinha, received just 3,80,177 votes.

1. As the successor to Ram Nath Kovind, India will have its second female president in Murmu. She’ll be the country’s first post-independence president and the country’s youngest leader ever.

2. The Brahma Kumaris, a spiritual community she joined after the deaths of her husband, two sons, brother, and mother between 2009 and 2015, consider Murmu to be a very spiritual person.

3. As a BJP councilor in the Rairangpur Notified Area Council in 1997, she officially entered politics. A minister in the Odisha government from 2000 to 2004, she was responsible for a number of different ministries including those pertaining to shipping and trade as well as fishing and agriculture.

4. The Odisha legislative assembly honored her with the Nilkanth Award for Best MLA in 2007.

5. Murmu was named Governor of Jharkhand in 2015 and held the position until 2021. The following year, she returned to Rairangpur, where she spent her time meditating and doing charitable work.

6. The BJP’s vice president in Odisha, Murmu, was also a Scheduled Tribe Morcha president in the state.

7. A BJP district president for Mayurbhanj (West) since 2010, she was re-elected to the position in 2013. Also in the same year, she was elected to the BJP National Executive (ST Morcha).

8. Murmu was born into a Santhali household and is regarded as an exceptional orator in Santhali and Odia.

9. At the Ramadevi Women’s College in Bhubaneswar, Murmu received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Arts.

10. The Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre in Rairangpur, where she also served as an honorary assistant teacher.