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New Delhi (AFP) – A woman from a marginalized tribal community was elected India’s president on Thursday, with the support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, following a vote in Parliament.
Droupadi Murmu, from the Santhal tribe, obtained the support of more than half of the deputies, according to partial results published by the Electoral Commission.
Modi tweeted to congratulate Murmu, saying his “exemplary success motivates each and every Indian.”
“It emerged as a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, marginalized and oppressed,” he detailed.
His closest rival, the opposition Yashwant Sinha – a former member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs – also tweeted his congratulations.
“India hopes that as the 15th President of the Republic, she will guard the Constitution without fear or favour,” Sinha wrote.
At 64, Murmu thus becomes the first woman president from a tribe and the second president of India after Pratibha Patil, who held the position for five years from 2007.
Born in Mayurbhanj district in the eastern state of Odisha, the president-elect began her career as a school teacher before joining politics.
She held ministerial positions in the state government and was governor of the neighboring state of Jharkhand.
“As a tribal woman from the remote Mayurbhanj district, I hadn’t thought of becoming the candidate for the top spot,” she told reporters shortly after her nomination this month.
Murmu was the favorite due to the strength of the ruling BJP and its allies in both parliament and state assemblies.
But the post is largely ceremonial and his election is not expected to make a practical difference to the tribal community, long relegated to the fringes of society.
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