Droupadi Murmu, India’s first female president from a marginalized tribal community, said after being sworn in on Monday that her election was “a success for every poor person in the country”.Murmu’s elevation to India’s highest constitutional post was seen as an important goodwill gesture by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the communities, which make up more than 8% of its 1.4 billion people, ahead of general elections due in 2024.
Murmu, a former teacher and minister of state in Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the second woman to hold the largely ceremonial role of president. She was born into a poor family of the Santhal tribe from the eastern state of Odisha.
Members of Parliament and state legislatures last week elected Murmu to a five-year term after she was nominated by the BJP.”My election is proof that the poor in India can have dreams and achieve them,” Murmu, 64, said in a speech in parliament after being sworn in. It gives me great satisfaction that those who have been groomed for centuries and those who have been denied the benefits of development, the poor, the downtrodden, the backward and the tribals, see their reflection in me.” Modi hailed Murmu’s oath. “a watershed moment for India , especially for the poor, marginalized and oppressed”.
The President of India acts as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, but executive powers are vested in the Prime Minister. The president can play an important role during political crises, such as when a general election is inconclusive, by deciding which party is best placed to form a government.
