A Hindu nationalist leader has been chosen India’s new president, a largely ceremonial position.Ram Nath Kovind was elected by the Indian Parliament and state legislatures in voting held Monday, with the results announced Thursday.
Kovind is a former governor of the eastern state of Bihar and a longtime associate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or National Volunteer Corps, a Hindu group that has been accused of stoking religious hatred against Muslims.The group is the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which controls enough seats in federal and state legislatures to push its favored candidate.The president’s role is mainly ceremonial. He is bound by the advice of the Cabinet led by the prime minister, who is the chief executive.
