India Elects A New President

Veteran of Indian Politics Wins Presidency

NEW DELHI—Pranab Mukherjee, veteran politician and former finance minister, was handily elected as India’s 13th president in a major boost for the ruling Congress party, which has been under pressure over corruption scandals and slowing economic growth.

Mr. Mukherjee, who was nominated for the position by the governing Congress party-led alliance, won a comprehensive victory with 713,937 votes out of a total of 1,029,924, beating P.A. Sangma, election official V.K. Agnihotri said Sunday. Mr. Sangma, a former speaker of Parliament who was supported by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, won 315,987 votes, the official said.

“I’m thankful for being elected,” Mr. Mukherjee told reporters after the announcement. “I have been entrusted with the responsibility to protect, defend and preserve the constitution of the republic [India]. I will try to justify this duty in the best possible way.”

Read the rest of the Wall Street Journal article here.

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