Pranab Mukherjee elected president of India

India’s former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has been elected the country’s new president.

A veteran of the ruling Congress Party, he was voted into the ceremonial post by members of India’s parliament and state assemblies.

As predicted, the 76-year-old won a landslide victory over his only rival.

“As President of the Republic, I will try to justify, in as modest a way as I can, to be trustworthy of my people,” he said after the results were announced.

Mukherjee’s triumph, amid difficult economic times for India, is also that of his Congress Party, whose image has been tarnished by corruption scandals.

He will be sworn in on Wednesday and could play an important role if there is no clear winner in the next general election due by 2014.

Mukherjee will replace Pratibha Patil who was India’s first woman president.

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