India elects woman from tribal minority as new president

Droupadi Murmu, a leader from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, was elected by the Indian Parliament and state legislatures in voting, partial results showed.

She started out as a school teacher before entering politics and has been a two-time lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party.
Reuters

She started out as a school teacher before entering politics and has been a two-time lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party.

A woman from India's tribal minority has been elected as the country's president with the backing of the ruling party, making her the first person from the Santhali community to occupy the top post, the second-ever woman to hold the position.

Droupadi Murmu secured the largely ceremonial position with the support of more than half the electorate of MPs and state legislators, partial results released by the election commission showed on Thursday.

Murmu, 64, will be formally sworn in as the president on Monday.

She started out as a school teacher before entering politics and has been a two-time lawmaker from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party.

Murmu’s father and her grandfather were village headmen in Baidaposi in Mayurbhanj district in Odisha.

Murmu’s supporters and Modi’s BJP party see her win as a triumph of tribal people and a breakthrough moment for her community, which generally lacks health care and education facilities in remote villages.

Opposition parties, however, are doubtful whether she would be able to help empower and bring any change to her community.

READ MORE: Indian parliament begins voting for new president

Largely symbolic role

The president’s role in India is largely ceremonial, but the position can be important during times of political uncertainty such as a hung parliament, when the office assumes greater power. 

She is bound by the advice of the Cabinet led by the prime minister, who is the chief executive.

She will replace Ram Nath Kovind, a Hindu nationalist leader from the Dalit community, which is at the lowest end of Hinduism’s complex caste hierarchy. Kovind has been president since 2017.

Murmu won against her opponent, Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP rebel who quit the party following differences with Modi on economic issues in 2018. Since then, Sinha has been a vocal critic of Modi and his government.

Indian lawmakers will vote for the country’s new vice president in August.

Route 6