Droupadi Murmu, 64, has been elected as the first tribal woman president of India, after counting for the presidential polls almost concluded on Thursday, July 21. She will take oath on July 25.
The presidential candidate for the NDA crossed the 50 percent mark following the third round of counting, defeating her competitor Yashwant Sinha and winning the election.
Murmu won by an overwhelming margin against Sinha after obtaining more than 64 percent valid votes in a day-long counting of ballots of MPs and MLAs, comprising the electoral college, to succeed Ram Nath Kovid to become the country’s 15th president.
After more than 10 hours of counting were completed, returning officer P C Mody announced Murmu as the winner, noting that she received 6,76,803 votes against Sinha’s 3,80,177.
She will be the first President to be born after independence and is the youngest to occupy the top post. She is also the second woman to become the president.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence that Murmu will make an “outstanding” president and said that India has scripted history with a daughter from a tribal community being elected to the top post.
“I would like to thank all those MPs and MLAs across party lines who have supported the candidature of Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her record victory augurs well for our democracy,” he tweeted.
In a statement congratulating Murmu on her victory, the opposition candidate Sinha expressed the hope of every Indian that she will serve as the “custodian of the Constitution” without fear or favour.