Celebrations galore in Murmu's hometown

Rairangpur (Odisha): As news of "Odisha's daughter" Droupadi Murmu taking a consolidated lead over her rival Yashwant Sinha in the presidential elections poured in, the entire state, especially her hometown Rairangpur, burst into celebrations on Thursday.

Revellers gathered outside her residence in Rairangpur town in Mayubhanj, as well as her in-laws' home in the district's Pahadpur village, and played tribal music and danced to its tunes.

Workers of the ruling BJD, which had pledged its support to the NDA presidential nominee, along with common people, were seen bursting crackers and distributing sweets near Biju Patnaik Golei Chhak in Rairangpur to mark the occasion.

Celebrations were also reported from BJP headquarters in Bhubaneswar. After the first round of counting, when votes of all members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were taken into account, Murmu was found leading with 540 of the 748 votes polled. Murmu, if elected, will be the first tribal woman president of the country. A huge hoarding with a picture of Murmu tying rakhi (sacred thread) on the wrist of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has been put on display at different squares of the Rairangpur town.