Droupadi Murmu,64 and formerly a teacher, has been elected the 15th President of India, and the second female at that.
The president-elect, from the minority Santhal tribe, was endorsed by over half of parliamentarians and state legislators.
Born in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, Murmu started her career as a teacher before joining politics.
She held ministerial positions and became Governor of Jharkhand in May 2015, the first woman to hold the position.
“As a tribal woman from remote Mayurbhanj district, I had not thought about becoming the candidate for the top post”, she said early July.
The world’s oldest democracy elected Pratibha Patil its first female president.