Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, who became a national hero in India for his central role in carrying out India’s five nuclear tests in 1998, has been elected president of India in a landslide, winning 89% of the electoral college votes. The 71-year-old scientist is a longtime supporter of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and was backed for the presidency by most of India’s major political parties, including the opposition Congress Party. The most vocal opposition to Kalam came from the communist parties, which nominated Lakshmi Sahgal, an 87-year-old feminist, poet, and freedom fighter, to run against him. Despite being mainly ceremonial, the president can break a deadlock in parliament, announce new elections, and decide, after an election, which party should be asked to form a government. Kalam is the first scientist and only the third Muslim to hold the presidency.
Born in the southern state of Tamil...
