Droupadi Murmu, a member of India’s tribal minority, was chosen as the nation’s president on Thursday with the support of the ruling party, becoming the first member of the underrepresented group to hold the position.
According to preliminary election results provided by the election commission, Murmu, a member of the Santhal tribe, won the largely ceremonial office with the support of more than half the electorate of MPs and state lawmakers. The 64-year-old Murmu was selected for the position by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the government’s dominant Hindu nationalist party.
Murmu was congratulated by Modi through Twitter, who wrote that her “exemplary accomplishment stimulates each and every Indian.”She has become a beacon of hope for our population, particularly the underprivileged, marginalised, and oppressed.
Her main competitor, the ex-BJP member and former finance and external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha, who is supported by the opposition, tweeted his greetings as well.
