A tribal politician elected as the new President of India

Droupadi Murmu, a tribal politician, has been elected as the new president of India. The candidate of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the 64-year-old former teacher comes from Odisha (Orissa) state and has had a stint as a state governor. Ms. Murmu is the country’s first tribal leader in the top post. The president in India is the head of the state, but does not exercise executive powers.