Pratibha Patil | India's First Woman President

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Pratibha Patil will be India's first woman president after winning a comprehensive election victory, Indian officials say.

Mrs Patil, the former governor of Rajasthan, a Northern Indian state, 72, won almost two-thirds of the vote in state assemblies and in India's parliament.

Supporters of Mrs Patil say that her election as president will be a great boost to millions of Indian women in their fight for gender equality.

Millions of Indian women face discrimination and poverty often linked to age-old traditions which require the parents of a bride to pay a large dowry to the family of her eventual husband -- one chosen for her by her family. Many Indian marriages are arranged by the family of the bride, usually for financial and social status gains of the bride's family.

The role of President in India is largely a cerimonial one, but does play a key role with a fragmented electorate often throwing up precariously placed coalition governments.

Approximately 4,500 MPs and state legislators were eligible to vote in the election.

Mrs Patil will succeed A P J Abdul Kalam, a popular missile scientist, as president.