Tribal leader Droupadi Murmu elected as India's president
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Ms Droupadi Murmu secured the largely ceremonial position with the support of more than half the electorate of MPs and state legislators.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI (BLOOMBERG) - Ms Droupadi Murmu has been elected as president of India, becoming the first tribal politician to occupy the top constitutional post in the world’s largest democracy.
Ms Murmu, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition, defeated the opposition nominee and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, by getting more than 50 per cent of the votes.
She will take the oath of office on Monday after the current incumbent – Mr Ram Nath Kovind’s – term ends.
Mr Modi, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and Mr Sinha congratulated Ms Murmu – who is from the Santhal tribe – on her appointment.
“Her early struggles, her rich service and her exemplary success motivates each and every Indian. She has emerged as a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, marginalised and the downtrodden,” PM Modi wrote on Twitter on Thursday (July 21).
“Her record victory augurs well for our democracy,” he added.
“I am certain she will be an outstanding President who will lead from the front and strengthen India’s development journey.”
Ms Murmu’s election was a foregone conclusion because Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies had the numbers needed to push her candidacy through.
India’s president is elected by the members of both the houses of parliament and of the legislative assemblies of states and federally-administered regions.
Ms Murmu, 64, from the eastern state of Odisha, is a former school teacher who joined local politics in her home state and rose through the ranks.
She was the governor of Jharkhand state before being nominated to the post of president. She is only the second woman to hold the office in the South Asian nation.
The first woman Indian president was Ms Pratibha Patil who served from 2007 to 2012.
Although the post is largely ceremonial, the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces.
The job takes on additional significance in the event of a hung parliament, when it falls on the president to call on the party most likely to be able to cobble together a majority to form the government.
