The ruling National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) Draupadi Murmu was elected as the new president of India on Thursday after crossing the 50 percent mark of the total votes at the third round of counting.

Murmu, 64, will become the second female president and the first person from India's tribal community to occupy the country's top constitutional post after taking the oath of office on July 25.

Starting off as a school teacher, Murmu, who is from India's eastern state of Odisha, began her political career with today's main ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in 1997. She was the first female governor of the eastern Jharkhand state from 2015 to 2021. 

In the election held on July 18, she defeated her rival Yashwant Sinha, who was fielded as a joint candidate by the opposition parties.

The president of India is elected indirectly with voting by means of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of the parliament and the legislative assemblies of all states and union territories.

According to a senior official of the parliament, where the counting of votes took place, a total of 3,219 votes were found valid, out of which Murmu secured 2,161 votes while Sinha got 1,058.

"India scripts history. At a time when 1.3 billion Indians are marking Independence Day Grand Festival, a daughter of India hailing from a tribal community born in a remote part of eastern India has been elected our President! Congratulations to Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji on this feat," prime minister Narendra Modi extended his congratulations to Murmu on Twitter.

Sinha also tweeted his congratulations. "India hopes that as the 15th President of the Republic, she functions as the custodian of the Constitution without fear or favor." 

The prime minister and the cabinet wield executive powers in India, although the head of state can send back a few parliamentary bills for reconsideration and also helps in the process of forming governments.

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters, AFP)