Saturday, July 21, 2007

wikinews.org

Pratibha Patil has won the 12th Presidential Elections of the Republic of India, becoming the first woman president of the second most populous country in the world.

Patil, 72, previously governor of the state of Rajasthan, had support from the governing coalition. She won approximately two thirds of the vote, almost double the number of votes of her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who resigned as Vice-President after losing the poll.

Patil was a last-minute candidate who appeared when the coalition that leads the congress and the communist allies could not choose a common candidate. The supporters of Patil hope that her election could bring to the spotlight, problems that affect women in India, such as the high murder rate or domestic violence and abuse.

More than 4,500 members of the Parliament of India and state Legislative Assemblies were eligible to vote for the largely ceremonial office.

Narendra Modi: The 15th Prime Minister of India

Election News | NDTV.com | Updated: May 26, 2014 18:29 IST

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi was today sworn in as India's prime minister, exactly 10 days after his party won the biggest mandate in the last 30 years.

Mr Modi, 63, was administered the oath of secrecy and office by President Pranab Mukherjee, an impressive function held in the forecourts of Rashtrapati Bhawan this evening.

He was elected the head of the BJP parliamentary party on May 20. As he entered Parliament House to attend the party meet on Tuesday, Mr Modi had knelt and touched his forehead to the ground in a freeze-frame moment that will undoubtedly become an iconic photo is years to come.

Delhi election results: AAP has historic win with 67 seats; BJP, Congress decimated

Feb 10, 2015 18:38 IST

New Delhi: Halting the Modi juggernaut in its tracks, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday scored a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections by winning as many as 67 of the 70 seats leaving BJP with only three and completely decimating Congress which drew a blank.

In an election that was billed as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AAP tornado threw veterans of both BJP and Congress into the electoral dustbin in their traditional bastions. BJP leaders accepted the defeat as a 'setback' but dismissed suggestions that it was against the Modi government's performance.

The AAP's feat was rarely achieved in any state in the past. Only once in 1989, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad had won all the 32 seats in the assembly.