The result will be announced later this week
\n NEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s parliament began voting Monday for a new president, with a female politician from the country\u2019s marginalised tribal community the favourite for the post.
\nDroupadi Murmu, from the Santhal tribe, has been nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for the largely ceremonial position.
\nIf elected, she would be India\u2019s first tribal president and second female president. The incumbent, Ram Nath Kovind, is the country\u2019s second president from the Dalit community, the bottom of the Hindu caste system.
\nMurmu, 64, began her career as a schoolteacher in the eastern state of Odisha before going into politics. She has held ministerial positions in the state government, and been governor of the neighbouring state of Jharkhand.
\nMurmu \u201chas devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalised,\u201d Modi tweeted after her candidacy was announced.
\nHer main opponent for the presidency is veteran politician Yashwant Sinha, an ex-BJP member and former finance and external affairs minister, who has been backed by opposition parties including Congress.
\nHe is now a vocal critic of Modi\u2019s government and tweeted at the weekend: \u201cThis year the Presidential election is not a contest between two individuals but two ideologies.
\n\u201cOnly one side wants to protect the provisions & values enshrined in our Constitution.\u201d
\nIndia\u2019s president is chosen by nearly 5,000 elected members of both houses of parliament and regional legislatures across the country.
\nEach of their votes is weighted according to the size of their constituency, and they rank the candidates in order of preference.
\nIf no-one has more than 50 percent support, the lowest-scoring candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed until someone reaches the mark.
\nThe result will be announced later this week.
\nIndia\u2019s prime minister wields executive power, but the president can send back a few parliamentary bills for reconsideration.
\nThe president also plays a guiding role in the process of forming governments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The result will be announced later this week NEW DELHI India\u2019s parliament began voting Monday for a new president, with a female politician from the country\u2019s marginalised tribal community the favourite for the post. Droupadi Murmu, from the Santhal tribe, has been nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for the largely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-272114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n