Tribal people celebrated the victory of NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential election on Thursday, the first from the community to reach Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.
“We are far away from Uparbeda village of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha but our hearts beat together,” said a tribal man in Bihar’s Purnea district, hopeful that Murmu’s win will consolidate their tribal identity.
Tallu Marandi, the lone 50-year-old graduate of Belwari village under Baisi block in Purnea district who initiated a prohibition drive in his village well before the Nitish Kumar-led government imposed prohibition in 2016, said, “Droupadi Murmu’s elevation to the topmost post in India will inspire the community” and expressed the hopes that the community’s “good days are just at our doorstep.”
Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP) the organization working for the uplift of the community said it was a historic day.
“We are indeed happy,” Maya Ram Oraon, an ABAVP member. “July 21 has now become a red-letter day in the tribal history”.
Another ABAVP member Guneshar Oraon said: “Our joy knows no bounds as for the first time we can feel proud of our own leader.” “The onus has now shifted on us and we will have to work much harder to ameliorate our condition,” he said, stressing the need for eschewing bad habits such as liquor consumption still rampant in the community.
Purnea University professor Naresh Kumar Srivastava, who has extensively studied the culture of tribal communities, said: “This event will inspire not only the tribal community but also those who work for the good of others.”