Droupadi Murmu elected as 15th President of India

Droupadi Murmu has become the 15th president of India in a historic win that has seen a politician from an indigenous community take the country’s highest elective office for the first time.

Ms Murmu, 64, is leading by a huge margin of 812 votes against 521 votes of the candidate from opposition parties Yashwant Sinha. A total of 4,796 eligible electors cast their ballots on Monday.

She has secured 68 per cent votes, crossing the 50



per cent mark required to win the presidential elections, while results from 10 states are awaited.

The new president was nominated by the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- led coalition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the top position in parliament, where the Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist party dominates the majority of seats.

The new president will succeed Ram Nath Kovind, whose term comes to an end on 24 July.