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A woman from a minority ethnic group was elected as India’s new president, a largely ceremonial position.
Droupadi Murmu, a leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, was elected as the country’s first president from one of the country’s tribes and the second woman to hold the position on Thursday, July 21, by the Indian Parliament and state legislatures in voting held Monday.
Next Monday, she will be formally sworn in as President.
Murmu, 64, is a member of India’s largest tribal group and is from the eastern state of Odisha. He served as governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021. She began her career as a schoolteacher before entering politics, and she has served as a lawmaker for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party twice.
Murmu’s father and grandfather were both village chiefs in Baidaposi, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha.
Prime Minister Modi congratulated Murmu by paying her a visit at her New Delhi residence and writing in a tweet that he was “certain she will be an outstanding President who will lead from the front and strengthen India’s development journey.”
In India, the president’s role is mostly ceremonial, but it can be important during times of political uncertainty, such as a hung parliament, when the office assumes more power. She is bound by the advice of the Prime Minister, who is also the Chief Executive.
She will take over for Ram Nath Kovind, a Hindu nationalist from the Dalit community. President Kovind has been in office since 2017.
