New Delhi, July 25 (BNA): India’s first female president from a marginalized tribal community, Droupadi Murmu, said on Monday after she was sworn in that her election was an “achievement for every poor person in the country”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi considered Murmo’s ascension to India’s highest constitutional office as an important goodwill gesture for the communities that make up more than 8% of their 1.4 billion population ahead of general elections scheduled for 2024.
Murmo, a teacher and former state minister from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, is the second woman to hold the largely ceremonial position of president. She was born into a poor family of the Santal tribe from the eastern state of Odisha.
Members of parliament and state legislatures were elected last week for a five-year term after being nominated by the BJP.
“My election is proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and they can also achieve them,” Murmo, 64, said in a speech to parliament after being sworn in.
“It is to my great satisfaction that those who have been deprived for centuries and those who have been deprived of the benefits of development, those poor, the oppressed, the backward and the tribesmen see their reflection in me.”
Modi praised Murmo’s swearing-in at “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 the Prime Minister has executive powers.
The president can play an important role during political crises, such as when general elections are inconclusive, by deciding which party is best to form a government.
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