Draupadi Murmu, first tribal woman, is India’s 15th President

CHENNAI: NDA Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu crosses the 50% mark of total valid votes at the end of the third round of counting and is set to become the 15th President of the country.

Murmu's victory has set the record for India's first-ever tribal, second-ever woman president.

PC Mody, Secretary General, Rajya Sabha announced, "So, upto this round, the cumulative total is - total valid votes is 3219 with total value of 8,38,839 of which Droupadi Murmu gets 2161 votes of the value of 5,77,777. Yashwant Sinha get 1058 votes of the value of 2,61,062."

As Ramnath Kovind's five-year tenure comes to an end, Murmu is set to replace him.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets and congratulates Droupadi Murmu on being elected as the new President of the country. BJP national president JP Nadda is also present.

Murmu secured a huge number of votes to comfortably cross the 50 per cent vote threshold to defeat her competitor Yashwant Sinha comprehensively.

"I join my fellow citizens in congratulating Droupadi Murmu on her victory in the Presidential election 2022. India hopes that as the 15th President of the Republic, she functions as the custodian of the Constitution without fear or favour," Sinha tweeted.

The BJP-led NDA alliance, banking heavily on the social justice plank, was poised for a win ever since they announced Murmu as their candidate. Murmu's candidature drew support also from non-NDA parties like YSRCP and Biju Janata Dal.