India PM votes in ballot to choose next president

Lawmakers began voting Monday to choose India’s next president in an election expected to be won by a tribal woman from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The election of DraupadiMurmu is a formality as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP controls enough seats in federal and state legislatures to push its favored candidate.The president in India is chosen by an electoral college that consists of lawmakers in both houses of Parliament and elected members of the legislative assemblies of all states. Murmu, 64, hails from the eastern of state Odisha and previously was governor of Jharkhand state.If elected, she will become the first tribal president and the second-ever female president of India.The votes from Monday’s election will be counted Thursday.