Droupadi Murmu swearing-in: Karnataka CM Bommai to be present

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai was among senior BJP leaders backing Droupadi Murmu when she filed nomination papers.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai will take part today in Droupadi Murmu's oath-taking ceremony in Delhi, as she becomes India's 15 president and the first member of a tribal community to hold the nation's highest post. Droupadi Murmu will also become only the second woman to be president of India.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. (PTI) (HT_PRINT)

On Thursday, Bommai offered Droupadi Murmu his congratulations after the Bharatiya Janata Party nominee beat opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.

READ | Droupadi Murmu creates history, elected first tribal president of India

Bommai had been present, with prime minister Narendra Modi and other senior party leaders, as Murmu filed her nomination papers earlier this month.

In a tweet after she secured an emphatic win over Sinha, Bommai said,

"Heartiest congratulations to Mrs Draupadi Murmu who has made a new record by getting elected as the President of India with a huge majority in the election. A person from the lower strata of the society occupying the highest post of the nation is a sign of our democracy's success."

Bommai was later also seen distributing sweets at the Jagannath Bhavan.

The Karnataka chief minister also thanked outgoing president Ram Nath Kovind for his service to the nation.

"As we bid farewell to our outgoing president, the honourable Ram Nath Kovind ji, I pay me obeisance to him for a solemn tenure. He rightly said that we should work with the spirit of 'nation first'," the chief minister tweeted.

Droupadi Murmu will be sworn in as India's 15th president at 10.15 am, after which she will receive a 21-gun salute and address a gathering of lawmakers at parliament's Central Hall.

She will be sworn in by chief justice of India NV Ramana.