InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
NEW DELHI - India's former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was elected as the country's next president on Sunday, the independent Election Commission announced.
The 77-year-old veteran politician, nominated by the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance for the position, defeated his main challenger and former parliament speaker P.A. Sangma, supported by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, by a huge margin, garnering votes from the Members of Parliament as well as legislators from across the states.
Mukherjee has won more than 558,000 votes against 240,000 votes by his rival presidential candidate P.A. Sangma according to accounts of vote as of 16:30 local time, said local TV channel Times Now.
Mukherjee, whose political career spanned over four decades, will be sworn in Wednesday by the Chief Justice of India, and he will be succeeding incumbent Pratibha Patil whose five-year tenure ends on July 25.
A holder of two master's degrees as well as a law degree, Mukherjee held various senior positions in the country's ruling Congress party and held a number of key portfolios like defense and foreign affairs.
The native of the eastern state of West Bengal was considered as the party's main troubleshooter till he resigned from the ministry and the party to contest the presidential poll.
Famously short, stands on boxes when speaking
Famously only five-foot (152 centimeters) tall, Mukherjee entered parliament in 1969 and will cap his long career in the turbulent world of Indian politics with a stint in the largely ceremonial role of president.
Known as a workaholic, a trouble-shooter and a shrewd tactician, he has been a leading figure within the ruling Congress party since the early 1980s when the country was governed according to socialist ideals.
He stood down as finance minister last month to run for president after serving in the post for three years during which India's increasingly market-driven economy has faltered, with growth falling sharply.
"The life of a finance minister is not easy," he told parliament when delivering his final budget in March. "When things go wrong, it is the finance minister who is called upon to administer the medicine.
"As Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, said in Shakespeare's immortal words, 'I must be cruel only to be kind.'"
But the supposedly tough budget was quickly dismissed as ineffectual, and he left the finance ministry after the economy grew by just 5.3 percent between January and March -- its slowest quarterly expansion in nine years.
With the rupee also at record lows against the dollar, Mukherjee takes up the presidency with his reputation in poor shape compared to when he steered India through the 2009 global financial downturn.
Nevertheless, he has retained the respect of a wide spectrum of Indian politicians and is seen as an ardent proponent of "inclusive growth" that would ensure that India's poor share in the country's development.
Born on December 11, 1935 in the small village of Mirati in West Bengal, his father was a "freedom fighter" for India's independence movement who spent more than 10 years in British jails.
Mukherjee, who speaks with a heavy Bengali accent that his colleagues call "Pranabese", began as a college teacher and later worked for the Bengali publication Desher Dak ("Call of the Motherland") before entering politics.
He followed in his father's footsteps in joining the Congress party and was elected to the upper house in 1969 before moving to the lower house in 2004.
Once tipped as a future prime minister, his moment never arrived and a new generation of Congress leaders is being touted to take over when Premier Manmohan Singh, 79, stands down, most likely at the 2014 general elections.
But Mukherjee, who has been on the board of governors of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, may take a more active approach to presidential duties than his predecessors.
Some observers believe he may encourage compromise among warring parties that have reduced parliament to near-paralysis in recent sessions.
He could also play a role in the formation of the next government if elections in 2014 deliver inconclusive results and numerous parties try to build a stable enough coalition to take power.
Mukherjee, who sometimes stands on a box when giving speeches so he can see over the podium, lists his hobbies as gardening, reading and listening to music, and now he may also find more time for his wife, two sons and daughter.
His son Abhijit has followed in his father's footsteps, last year winning a seat in the West Bengal assembly as a Congress party candidate.
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