President Droupadi Murmu’s historic address to the Odisha Legislative Assembly on November 27, 2025, is a seminal event with profound significance for Odisha's political, social, and economic trajectory. Being the first sitting President to address the state assembly, her speech can be seen as a strong endorsement of the state's developmental efforts and a call to action for public representatives.
- Symbolic Significance: Her presence and words symbolize a homecoming and connect the highest constitutional authority to Odisha’s grassroots governance. This bridges national vision with regional aspirations, inspiring lawmakers and citizens alike.
- Policy Priorities Highlighted: President Murmu praised Odisha’s strides in sectors like agriculture, tribal welfare, healthcare, and industrial infrastructure. She emphasized the integrated vision of ‘Samruddha Odisha 2036’ aligning with the national development agenda of ‘Viksit Bharat 2047.’
- Governance and Accountability: She urged legislators to be responsive and responsible to people's aspirations—a critical governance principle. This message resonates strongly with themes of ethical leadership, participatory democracy, and welfare-oriented development, important for OPSC’s governance and ethics syllabus.
- Inclusivity and Tribal Focus: Given her tribal background, President Murmu underlined the importance of tribal welfare and inclusive growth. This aspect is particularly relevant to Odisha’s demography and socio-economic challenges, making it vital for sociological and developmental questions in exams.
- Economic Development: The President’s focus on accelerating agricultural output, strengthening health infrastructure, and promoting industrial growth mirrors Odisha’s current policy drives, offering aspirants concrete examples to link theory with practice in economy and polity sections.
This speech can serve as a template for answering Mains questions related to leadership, governance challenges, state-specific development models, and constitutional roles of the President. It also highlights Odisha's role in contributing to national goals, an important point for framing answers in the exam context.
Sample Prelims Questions
Q1. President Droupadi Murmu’s recent address to the Odisha Legislative Assembly:
(a) Called it a ‘homecoming’ and highlighted Odisha’s developmental journey
(b) Emphasized the ‘Samruddha Odisha 2036’ vision and ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’
(c) Urged MLAs to be accountable to citizens' aspirations
(d) All of the above
Q2. Which of the following sectors did President Droupadi Murmu emphasize during her Odisha Assembly address?
1. Tribal welfare
2. Agricultural development
3. Health infrastructure
4. Defence production
Select the correct answer using the code below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 2 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) All of the above
Sample Mains Question
Q. President Droupadi Murmu, during her historic address to the Odisha Legislative Assembly in 2025, emphasized inclusive development, tribal welfare, and good governance. Analyze how her speech reflects Odisha’s socio-economic priorities and the role of constitutional leadership in motivating state governance for achieving sustainable development goals. (150 words)
Deep Analysis
Through this speech, Murmu reinforced the constitutional role of the President as a unifying figure and moral leader who transcends political divides. Her emphasis on development and welfare reflects a bottom-up approach suitable for Odisha’s diverse and tribal-majority population. The alignment of state goals with national aspirations underscores cooperative federalism — a critical component for competitive exam essays on polity.
For aspirants, this speech is a real-world example of how constitutional principles, developmental policies, and ethical leadership converge in contemporary Indian politics. Memorizing key phrases like ‘Samruddha Odisha 2036’ and ‘Viksit Bharat 2047’ and understanding their implications provides an edge in both prelims and mains.
By critically examining the speech, candidates learn the importance of leadership messaging in governance, an important topic for OPSC answer writing and interview preparation.