Pranab Mukherjee was elected the 13th President of the Republic of India on July 22, marking a new journey for the veteran Congress leader. He comes to the Rashtrapathi Bhawan after over four decades of active political life. 
Mukherjee, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee, got 5,64,469 vote value. The electoral count is well beyond the half-way mark of 5,25,140.
The Indian electoral college, comprising Members of the Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assemblies of the 30 states (legislative machinery of the states) has over 10.5 lakh votes. 
His rival P A Sangma, backed by the Hindu party Bharatiya Janata Party and some other opposition parties like the AIADMK from Tamil Nadu in South India and BJD from North India, could only manage 2,57,466 vote value, according to Rajya Sabha Secretary General V K Agnihotri -- the returning officer for the poll. 
Mukherjee, a 76-year-old Congress leader, brings to this top Constitutional post a wealth of experience. In his over 40 years political life, the new president has held key positions in the Congress party and in the India government -- including the portfolios of Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence and the Minister for External Affairs. 
As counting of votes began after the polls on July 19, Mukharjee enjoyed a clear lead and maintained it across the states, except the BJP-ruled ones. He sprang a surprise in BJP-ruled Karnataka where he got the votes of 117 MLAs against BJP's 103 in the 224-member Assembly. 
Of the 748 MPs, who had voted, he secured 527 votes with a value of 3,73,116 against 206 for Sangma which has a value of 1,45,848. 
Voting for the presidential election took place on July 19. Pranab da, as he is popularly known, is now expected to embark on a new journey transcending political affiliations in the high Constitutional job with an ease none of his predecessors may have enjoyed. 
For the troubleshooter of the United Progress Alliance led by the Congress, the election to the President's office comes as a fitting finale.
The veteran Congressman from West Bengal, was considered an expert in the working of the Constitution and governance. He was almost always, in his tenure, the perennial 'No 2' in government. 
Mukherjee, a utility man from the days of Indira Gandhi, when he was the Minister of State for Revenue during the Emergency, became the Minister for Finance in the 80s.
The veteran leader, known for his photographic memory, became a member of the Rajya Sabha (the Upper House of India’s parliament) in 1969. He was elected to the lower house of Indian parliament – the Lok Sabha -- in 2004 from Jangipur in West Bengal. He repeated the victory in the 2009 elections. However, that was expected to be his last stint as member of the lower house, since he expressed a desire not to contest elections again in view of his advancing age. 
The new president, in a casual chat with his sister is said to have quipped that he wanted to be reborn, as a well-bred horse in the cavalry unity of the Indian president.
His sister, Annapurna Banerjee, reminisced that once, while sipping tea with her brother – then an MP, he asked her to look at the horses in the president’s stable. He said they receive all the care and have nothing to do.
She responded that he could become a president of the country, and that she said, has come true.
The president elect hails from Miriti village, a little known rural area of West Bengal. The news of his election as president was greeted with celebrations in the village.
Huge flexi-boards were put up outside his ancestral house 'Mukherjee Bhavan', congratulating him on becoming the President-elect. People played on the traditional Bengali drum, the dhak, and sang songs specially written for the occasion.
AAM/EM 
Source: BNA