India Elects First Woman President

Via aljazeera.net -

India has elected the country's first woman president after one of the bitterest political campaigns in the nation's history.

Pratibha Patil, the 72-year-old candidate of the governing Congress Party and its political allies, is the first woman to hold the office in the nation's six decades of independence.

India's president is not elected by popular poll but chosen by national and state legislators.

Patil defeated Bhairon Singh Shekhawa, India's vice-president and candidate of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

Patil received nearly two-thirds of the vote, the election commission said after votes were counted on Saturday.

Hundreds of delighted Congress supporters danced in the streets, banging drums and setting off firecrackers outside her home in New Delhi and in her hometown in the state of Maharashtra.

The president's office is largely seen as a ceremonial one.

Under the constitution, the prime minister holds the executive reins but the president plays a role in forming governments at state and federal levels, making the post hotly contested.

Elected for a term of five years, the Indian president is the supreme commander of the armed forces. The chiefs of the army, navy and air force report to the president.

The president can also grant pardons or reduce sentences, particularly in cases involving the death penalty.