Draupadi Murmu: A Presidency of Symbolism and Inclusion
President Draupadi Murmu is different from many of her predecessors. In her less than three years as President, 203 days of her tenure have been spent travelling, during which she has made 110 visits, 11 of which were to her home state of Odisha and on various occasions to 34 states and union territories, a record for a President. India sees itself in Draupadi Murmu. On June 30, the ancient city of Gorakhpur was not just getting ready to host President Draupadi Murmu, it witnessed much more. Under the cloudy monsoon sky, Her Excellency entered the sanctum sanctorum of the Gorakhpur temple not just for prayers, but for political representation. Her visit was not a routine presidential visit, it was a ritual to reaffirm the silent revolution taking place between public trust, better governance and the moral geography of the country. Like Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who entered the temples of newly independent India barefoot, or APJ Abdul Kalam, who inspired the youth of unknown cities, Draupadi Murmu's presidency is a rare blend of constitutional stature and popular symbolism.
The official visits of the President do not just grace the calendar, they redraw the emotional and political geography of the country, and in the process bring the marginalized people to the heartland of the country. Draupadi Murmu is different from many predecessors, in a presidential tenure of less than three years, 203 days of her time were spent traveling. During this period, she made 110 visits, of which 11 were to her home state Odisha, and on various occasions to 34 states and union territories, which is a record as a President. These were definitely not ceremonial visits. In these visits, forgotten cities, remote tribal areas and small universities were given as much importance as state capitals and international forums. To understand the importance of his presidency, it should be seen in the light of his predecessors. We have had presidents like Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Dr. Zakir Hussain, whose intellect was astonishing.
While Radhakrishnan gave a wonderful lecture on the Gita at Oxford, Dr. Zakir Hussain was an authority on Hindustani culture and primary education. There were constitutional purists like K.R. Narayanan, who refused to approve the government's policy that increased instability. Similarly, however important APJ Abdul Kalam's travels were, they could not surpass the vast scope or deep symbolism of Draupadi Murmu's travels. While Kalam aroused ambition, Murmu restores lost dignity. While Kalam's travels were futuristic, Murmu connects herself to the land of the forgotten past. They include tribal history, the history of famines and the history of the frontier, which have been forgotten by the national discourse.
From Karnataka to the Northeast, Tamil Nadu to Telangana and Kerala to Andhra Pradesh - her travels are not just a part of protocol, her presence in these places is the presence of a devotee. In her home state Odisha, she laid the foundation of railway tracks in tribal areas and inaugurated statues, temples and hostels. She inaugurated a girls’ university in Chennai, which was as inspiring as her feat of reaching Rashtrapati Bhavan from a Santal village in Mayurbhanj. Each of her visits are like lines drawn on a canvas, taken together they form the picture of a republic that can see, listen and connect. Of course, there is a strong political message here. Her presidency is linked, sometimes overtly, sometimes implicitly, to the BJP’s vision of cultural assertion, grassroots integration and regional consolidation. In this way she is both a symbol and a force. Her campaign shows that the soul of the republic is shaped by inclusion, not exclusion.
She has taken the presidential vision beyond the Lutyens zone of Delhi to the tea gardens of Assam, tribal villages in Odisha and the university hall of Bareilly. Her visits are in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to build a narrative of inclusive Hindutva, where tribal heritage, women’s empowerment and infrastructural progress all find a place on the saffron canvas. But it would be wrong to mistake Murmu for a BJP mascot. She has given the spiritual purpose of the republic its due place. She recites Vedic mantras and reads out graduation certificates with equal ease. She enjoys Rabindra sangeet in Kolkata with the same ease as she sits on the back of an elephant during Dussehra in Mysore. While some other presidents developed distance as an art, Draupadi Murmu relied on acquaintance and closeness. Her journey contains answers to many basic questions. Like who is an Indian? She answers this not through speeches but through her activities. Every person here is an Indian.
This is especially important when the state seems more punitive than caring. At a time when institutions are becoming centralised and the space for dissent is shrinking, she is setting an example through inclusion. Unlike former President K R Narayanan, who questioned his own government, Draupadi Murmu has expanded the emotional space of the presidency. She does not clash, but inculcates. She has made the presidency dynamic, austere and meaningful. She does not just visit districts, she inspires ambitions. She does not just cut ribbons at inaugurations, she sows the future. President Murmu may have about three years left in her term, but her legacy is indelible. Not in glass life-size statues or portraits, but in railway tracks in remote tribal areas, in convocation medals handed out to first-generation graduates and in the smiles of children who for the first time have found someone like themselves in the country's top constitutional post.
The position of the President is, of course, not a matter of power but of presence. Murmu's presence in Rashtrapati Bhavan is not a political but a philosophical presence, a reminder of what India is and what it should be. Clearly, India is more a moral idea than a geography. Rashtrapati Bhavan was once a symbol of colonial power and its grandeur but now it speaks of ambition, equality and ancient glory. In Draupadi Murmu, India sees itself, not a President.