First Woman President of INDIA

India gets first woman president
Pratibha Patil
Mrs Patil's backers say her election will be a boost to women
The first woman president of India since it gained independence from British rule 60 years ago is due to take her oath of office in Delhi.

Pratibha Patil,72, will be sworn-in as head of state in a ceremony at the Indian parliament.

Mrs Patil's supporters say her election to the largely ceremonial role will be a boost to millions of Indian women.

She succeeds APJ Kalam who urged Indians to transform their country into a fully developed nation by 2020.

Mrs Patil won a comprehensive presidential election victory, mopping up nearly two-thirds of votes cast in state assemblies and in India's parliament.

The former governor of the northern Indian state of Rajasthan described her election as "a victory for the principles which our Indian people uphold".

Surprise candidate

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder, in Delhi, says that while some see her victory as an important step towards gender equality in India, many view it as only a symbolic gesture.

Millions of women in India face discrimination and poverty often linked to traditions which require the parents of a bride to pay a large dowry to the family of her eventual husband.


"This is a victory for the principles which our Indian people uphold" Pratibha Patil

Profile: Pratibha Patil

Mrs Patil emerged as a surprise, last-minute candidate after left-wing parties in the Congress-led coalition opposed the Congress Party's first choice.

She was backed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, but was mocked by opponents and by some sections of India's media.

Mrs Patil has courted controversy, recently telling a Muslim congregation that the veil was introduced to protect their women from Mughal invaders, a comment she later retracted.

She also faced allegations that a bank she helped set up gave out cheap loans to her relatives before it folded.

The Congress Party has rejected those allegations.

The presidency is largely a ceremonial post, but plays a key role with a fragmented electorate often throwing up precariously placed coalition governments.