Personal life[edit]

Draupadi Murmu was born in a Santali tribal family on June 20, 1958, in Uparbeda village of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, to Biranchi Narayan Tudu.^{[3][better source needed][4]} Both her father and grandfather were elected as sarpanch under the Panchayati Raj system.^{[5][better source needed]}

Draupadi Murmu married Shyam Charan Murmu, a banker, who died in 2014. The couple had two sons, both of whom are dead, and a daughter. She lost her husband and two sons in a span of 4 years. ^[6] Spiritually Murmu has been associated with the Brahma Kumaris.^[7]

Teaching career[edit]

Murmu started out as a school teacher before entering state politics. She worked as an assistant professor at the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Institute, Rairangpur and junior assistant at irrigation department Government of Odisha.^[8]

Political career[edit]

Murmu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1997 and was elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. Murmu became the Chairperson of Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 2000. She also served as the national vice-president of BJP Scheduled Tribes Morcha.^{[citation needed]}

During the BJP and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha, she was the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Commerce and Transportation from March 6, 2000, to August 6, 2002, and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from August 6, 2002, to May 16, 2004.^{[9][better source needed]} She is former Odisha Minister and an MLA from Rairangpur Assembly constituency in the years 2000 and 2004.^[10] She was conferred Nilkantha Award for best MLA by Odisha Legislative Assembly in 2007.^{[citation needed]}