Political veteran Pranab Mukherjee was sworn in Wednesday as India’s 13th president. The position of president is largely ceremonial, but Mukherjee would have a key role in determining who forms the next government in the event of a hung Parliament after elections in 2014.
The 76-year-old Mukherjee is a top leader of the Congress Party who resigned his post as finance minister to run for president. He was elected last week by national and state lawmakers. The Chief Justice of India’s Supreme Court S. H. Kapadia administered the oath of office in the flower bedecked central hall of Parliament. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi and Singh’s Cabinet colleagues were present at the ceremony. Mukherjee has been a Congress Party stalwart since 1969 and a key troubleshooter in managing its fractious coalitions.
Source: BNA