Tribal woman likely to be India’s next ceremonial president

By ASHOK SHARMA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — A woman representing India’s poor tribal community is likely to be the next president. The governing Bharatiya Janata Party picked Draupadi Murmu on Tuesday as its candidate for the ceremonial post. Her election is a formality with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in a strong position to galvanize votes for her among lawmakers. A divided opposition named BJP rebel Yashwant Sinha to challenge Murmu in the July 18 election. Sinha was finance minister during the previous BJP government. He quit the party following a divergence with Modi on economic issues. Murmu hails from the eastern Odisha state and had served as the governor of Jharkhand state.