Droupadi Murmu, a tribal politician, has been elected as the new president of India.

The 64-year-old former teacher from Odisha, is a candidate of governing Bhartiya Janta Party, BJP.

The president in India is the head of the state, but does not exercise executive powers.

Murmu registered a comfortable win against Opposition candidate and veteran politician Yashwant Sinha.

Sinha was a senior minister in the BJP government led by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He is now a vocal critic of the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

[Source: BBC.com]