India has elected a new president. This is the former governor of the state of Jharkhand, Draupadi Murmu.
This is reported by the Indian Express.
Ruling National Democratic Alliance candidate Draupadi Murmu defeated opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha with 64.03% of the vote. She became the second woman to hold the post of President of India.
Sinha congratulated his rival even before the official results were announced and expressed his hope that she would act as "the guardian of the Constitution without a shadow of a doubt".
The current President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, also congratulated his successor. "Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Draupadi Murmu on being elected as the 15th President of India," he tweeted.
- Draupadi Murmu was born in a Santal tribe family in the state of Odisha. Murmu became a teacher and took an active part in community life. She then served as an Indian Peopleʼs Party legislator in Odisha and later took over as the governor of the eastern state of Jharkhand.
- The President of India is the head of state and commander-in-chief, but he actually performs representative functions, and the country is run by the Prime Minister.