World News

Veteran of Indian Politics Wins Presidency

Updated July 22, 2012 10:14 a.m. ET

NEW DELHI—Pranab Mukherjee, veteran politician and former finance minister, was handily elected as India's 13th president in a major boost for the ruling Congress party, which has been under pressure over corruption scandals and slowing economic growth.

Mr. Mukherjee, who was nominated for the position by the governing Congress party-led alliance, won a comprehensive victory with 713,937 votes out of a total of 1,029,924, beating P.A. Sangma, election official V.K. Agnihotri said Sunday. Mr. Sangma, a former speaker of...

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