Eva Deschamps / July 22, 2022
Droupadi Murmu, a member of the Santhal tribe, received the support of more than half of the parliamentarians, according to partial results released by the Election Commission. At 64, she becomes the first tribal woman president and the second president of India.
Ms. Murmu, a native of the eastern Indian state of Odisha, was nominated by Mr. Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a candidate for the largely ceremonial post.
Mr. Modi congratulated Ms. Murmu in a tweet, saying her exemplary success motivates every Indian.
She has emerged as a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed, he added.
Murmu will be India's second female president after Pratibha Patil, who held the office for five years from 2007. She succeeds Ram Nath Kovind, the country's second president from the Dalit community, the lowest in the caste system, also known as the untouchables.
Born in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, she began her professional life as a schoolteacher before taking up political office.
She has held ministerial positions in the state government and was governor of the neighbouring state of Jharkhand.
As a woman from a tribal community in the remote district of Mayurbhanj, I did not think I would be the candidate for the job, she told reporters after her nomination by the BJP.