On Thursday, tribal people celebrated Droupadi Murmu, the NDA candidate who was the first representative of the group to arrive at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi, winning the presidential election.
Tallu Marandi, a 50-year-old graduate of Belwari Village in the Baisi Block of Purnea District who started a prohibition campaign in his village before the Nitish Kumar-led government enacted prohibition in 2016, said that Droupadi Murmu's elevation to the top post in India will inspire the community and expressed the hope that the community's "good days are just at our doorstep."
It was a momentous day, according to Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad (ABAVP), a group that works to improve the community.
"Our excitement has no bounds as for the first time we can feel proud of our own leader," remarked Guneshar Oraon, another ABAVP member. He emphasised the necessity for avoiding harmful habits like liquor consumption, which is still widely practised in the community, saying that "the onus has now moved on us and we will have to work much harder to alleviate our condition."