Droupadi Murmu was elected India’s 15th president on Thursday after she defeated opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. The first tribal president, also the youngest president in the history of India, will be the new resident of the Rashtrapati Bhavan after she takes the oath on July 25.
After three rounds of counting, Droupadi Murmu secured 64.03 per cent of the total vote value while the opposition’s Yashwant Sinha got defeated with 35.97 per cent. Murmu got 2,824 votes with a value of 6,76,803 and Sinha got 1,877 votes with a value of 3,80,177. To gain a victory, a total value of 5,43,000 is required. The new President will take oath on July 25
Besides being the first tribal President, Murmur, 64, has also created history as the first President to be born after independence and the youngest to acquire the top post. She is also the second woman to become the President after Congress’s Pratibha Devisingh Patil, who served as the 12th president of India from 25 July 2007 to July 2012. Meanwhile, Droupadi Murmu has been elected the 15th President of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with other senior members of his Cabinet visited Ms Murmu to congratulate her.
“Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji has been an outstanding MLA and Minister. She had an excellent tenure as Jharkhand Governor. I am certain she will be an outstanding President who will lead from the front and strengthen India’s development journey,” PM Modi said in a tweet.
Yashwant Sinha congratulated Droupadi Murmu on her victory. “I join my fellow citizens in congratulating Srimati Droupadi Murmu on her victory in the Presidential Election 2022. We (Indians) hope that as the 15th President of the Republic she functions as the Custodian of the Constitution without fear or favour,” Sinha said.
Murmu was congratulated by governors, cabinet ministers, chief ministers and leaders of various political parties. Opposition leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar also sent her congratulatory messages.
Several opposition MPs and MLAs from across state assemblies cross-voted in support of Droupadi Murmu, former Jharkhand Governor and a tribal woman from Odisha.
About 125 MLAs from different assemblies cross-voted in her support, news agency PTI reported. Meanwhile, voting figures also suggest that Murmu was the beneficiary of cross-voting from 17 MPs.
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Rabia Shireen is a Staff Reporter at The Cognate.
