Last week, the nominee of the Bharatiya Janata (BJP), the Hindu nationalist party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was elected to the presidency by the parliament, with 64% of the votes of the deputies and the state assemblies of India. .
Ms. Murmu, a member of the Santhal Indian tribe, had meditated shortly before her investiture at the memorial dedicated to the hero of Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi, in New Delhi.
Born in the district of Mayurbhanj, in the state of Odisha (west), the elected president began her career as a teacher before embarking on politics.
“My journey in life started in a small tribal village,” Ms Murmu, 64, said after being sworn in before parliament.
“In the environment where I grew up, benefiting from a simple elementary education was like a dream for me”, she continued, “but despite many obstacles, my determination remained fierce and I became the first girl from my village to enter university.”
Ms. Murmu is the second president of the country after Pratibha Patil, who held the post for five years from 2007. She succeeds Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, second president from the Dalit community, formerly called “the untouchables”, in lowest of the Hindu caste system.
Ms. Murmu’s victory was expected, given the weight of the BJP, its allies in parliament and state assemblies, which elect India’s head of state.
Analysts said the win is likely to help Modi expand his base in tribal communities, in view of his re-election in 2024.
“His assumption of the presidency is a watershed moment for India, especially for the poor, marginalized and oppressed,” the Prime Minister wrote on Twitter on Monday.
According to Mrs. Murmu, her accession to the head of the country should give reasons for hope to those left out of India’s economic growth.
“It gives me great satisfaction that those who have been deprived for centuries, who have not enjoyed the benefits of development (…) can recognize themselves in me,” she added.
The role of the president in India is largely ceremonial, with the prime minister and his government exercising executive powers, but the head of state can return a few parliamentary bills for reconsideration and also help in the process of forming governments.