President of India

Here are five things about Droupadi Murmu, the new incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan, who takes office in the historic 75th year of the nation's Independence.

After widespread protests by Adivasis who believed that the move would limit their rights over land, Murmu returned the Bills in June 2017, and asked the government to clarify how the amendments would benefit tribals. Murmu, a Santhal leader and an inspirational figure for her community and for women in general, has frequently weighed in on issues that Adivasis face. As Transport Minister of Odisha, she was credited with having set up transport offices in all 58 subdivisions of the state. The electoral setback coincided with a tumultuous period in her personal life. Murmu won an election to the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 1997, and served as councillor. Despite a successful political career, Murmu also faced some hurdles along the way.

'India scripts victory'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to greet Ms. Murmu at her residence in New Delhi after the third round of counting showed ...

Ms. Murmu’s lead was substantial from the first round itself when votes of all MPs were counted , but by the third round, her unassailable lead had made it quite clear that there had been much cross-voting in her favour across party lines. Ms. Murmu, who had been a former Governor of Jharkhand, hails from the Santhal tribe and was born in the district of Mayurbhanj, coming up the hard way in life, graduating and teaching in Odisha before entering electoral politics at the local body level and later being elected MLA and serving as a Minister in the Biju Janata Dal-BJP coalition government from 2000 to 2004. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to greet Ms. Murmu at her residence in New Delhi after the third round of counting showed that she had crossed the half-way mark. She received 64.03% of total valid votes polled, much more than what was openly declared in her support and pointing to the fact there had been a lot of cross-voting in Ms. Murmu's favour from the Opposition ranks. Madhya Pradesh saw 19 MLAs cross-vote, while 16 did so in Maharashtra. While there is no whip issued for the Presidential polls, the declared parties and coalitions declare candidates who expect votes to fall on party lines. She was declared elected on Thursday after four rounds of counting, although she had crossed the halfway mark after the third round of counting itself, posting an unassailable lead over her rival and the Opposition’s candidate Yashwant Sinha, who conceded the election thereafter.