President-elect Droupadi Murmu’s Swearing-In: Check Guest List, What She Will Wear

President-elect Droupadi Murmu may wear a traditional Santali saree when she takes the oath of office in Delhi on Monday. The Santali sarees have some stripe work on one end and is worn by the Santal women on special occasions. The saree is vertically symmetric and has both the ends designed with the same motifs.

New Delhi: With President-elect Droupadi Murmu set to take oath of office as the 15th President of India, excitement is rife among her relatives and supporters. While her close family members are coming to Delhi to attend her swearing-in ceremony, her native village in Odisha has planned a community feast to celebrate the historic occasion.

What The President-Elect May Wear For Her Swearing In Ceremony?

President-elect Droupadi Murmu may wear a traditional Santali saree when she takes the oath of office in Delhi on Monday.

Her sister-in-law Sukri Tudu is travelling to Delhi with a special saree used by Santal women in Eastern India. Sukri along with her husband Tarinisen Tudu on Saturday left for the national capital to witness the oath taking ceremony to be held at the Parliament’s central hall.

“I am carrying a Santali traditional saree for `Didi’ (elder sister) and pray she will wear it during the oath taking. I am not sure what she will actually wear on the occasion. The Rashtrapati Bhawan will decide the dress of the new president,” Sukri told news agency PTI.

The Santali sarees have some stripe work on one end and is worn by the Santal women on special occasions. The saree is vertically symmetric and has both the ends designed with the same motifs.

Sukri, who along with her husband and family members, live in Uparbeda village near Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district, said she is also carrying traditional sweet pancakes, also called Arisa Pitha’ for Murmu.

Who Will Be Attending Murmu’s Swearing-in Ceremony?

Meanwhile, Murmu’s daughter Itishree, a bank officer and her husband Ganesh Hembram, have reached New Delhi and are staying with the President elect.

Only four members of the President-elect’s family – brother, sister-in-law, daughter and son-in-law – will attend the oath taking ceremony, said a senior BJP leader adding that essence of adivasi’ culture and tradition could be reflected in the swearing in of the country’s 15th President .

BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday left on a four day tour to the national capital during which he is scheduled to attend Murmu’s swearing in ceremony.

Apart from six BJP MLAs from Mayurbhanj district, three members of the Ishwariya Prajapati Brahmakumari’s Rairangpur branch- Brahma Kumari Supriya, Brahma Kumari Basanti and Brahma Kumar Govind, have also reached New Delhi and met Murmu during the day, sources said.

Meanwhile, Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Dharmendra Pradhan and Bisweswar Tudu, party MPs Suresh Pujari, Basant Panda,Sangeeta kumara Singhdeo and her husband KV Singhdeo, met Murmu in New Delhi. They are expected to be present at the ceremony.

Festivities At Home

Coming from a humble tribal family of Uparbeda village near Rairangpur, 64-year-old Murmu has come a long way from a councilor to an MLA, a minister and Jharkhand Governor to being elected President of India.

There were celebrations everywhere in the state as `ladoos’ (sweetmeats) were distributed even on Saturday at the Bhubaneswar railway station.

In her native village of Uparbeda, villagers plan to spend the entire day on a feast. “The entire day would be spent on dancing and singing and having lunch together. We also have plans to put up a large TV screen so that people can see her taking the oath. Tomorrow is the best possible day for our village,” said Sunaram Hembram, a Santhali villager told Hindustan Times.

Murmu studied in the upper primary school of Uparbeda between classes 1-7.

In Pahdapur, where she has set up a tribal residential school in the name of her deceased husband Shyam Charan and two sons Laxman and Sipun, villagers are also putting up a huge LED screen to watch the live telecast. “Our village is going to be famous and lots of developmental activities would be carried,” said Braja Mohan Murmu, according to HT.