Droupadi Murmu elected as 15th President of India

Droupadi Murmu was elected as the 15th President of India on July 21. She is the country’s second female president after Pratibha Patil.

Hailing from a tribal community in the Indian state of Odisha, the former primary school teacher has served previously as the Governor of Jharkhand, a state in the eastern part of India.

Murmu took to Twitter to express her gratitude for being voted for the role:”I thank every citizen of India and to all of you. I cannot express my feeling right now. I am also elated by all of the support from my all political colleagues, ministers, MPs and MLAs from all  around India for choosing me to serve as the 15th President in the world’s largest democratic country, Mother India.”

देशवासियों के प्रेम समर्थन और विश्वास के आगे नतमस्तक हूं
यह देश के आम जनता की जीत है
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— Droupadi Murmu (@droupadimurmuu) July 22, 2022

India’s Prime Minster Narendra Modi also took to twitter to hail her appointment. “India scripts history. At a time when 1.3 billion Indians are marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a daughter of India hailing from a tribal community born in a remote part of eastern India has been elected our President! Congratulations to Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji on this feat. She has emerged as a ray of hope for our citizens, especially the poor, marginalised and the downtrodden.”

PM Shri @narendramodi, BJP National President Shri @JPNadda and HM Shri @AmitShah congratulate newly elected President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji at her residence. pic.twitter.com/7VYCcyufYz

— BJP (@BJP4India) July 21, 2022

According to local media, the vote counting took place at the Parliament House in India’s capital, New Delhi and the result was declared immediately. Her contender from the opposition party, Yashwant Sinha received 1,877 votes, while Murmu received 2,824 votes.

She will be sworn into office on July 25.