India elects first female president

India elected its first female President yesterday, early results showed, in what supporters called a boost for the rights of millions of downtrodden women, despite a bitter campaign marked by scandal.

Pratibha Patil, the ruling coalition's 72-year-old nominee for the mainly ceremonial post, easily beat opposition-backed challenger and standing Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in a vote by the national parliament and state politicians.

"In the 60th year of India's independence, a woman will be elected as the President very shortly. We are very happy. This is a very historic moment for us," Prithviraj Chavan, junior minister in the Prime Minister's office, told reporters.

Patil, governor of the northwestern desert state Rajasthan, emerged on the national stage when the Congress-led coalition and its communist allies failed to agree on a joint candidate.

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, India's most powerful politician, had called the nomination a "historic moment" and proof the country "respects women".

Supporters hoped Patil's nomination would help bring issues that plague women in India - like dowry-related violence - into the public spotlight. A woman is murdered, raped or abused every three minutes on average in India.

Patil's presidency also reflects the growing power of some women in India, where an increasing number are taking part in the workforce and in schools and hold senior positions in corporations as India enters the globalised economy.

As the results of the presidential polls poured in, celebrations in Rajasthan started, with people singing and dancing as others lit fire crackers and beat large brass drums.

India has had a few female icons in the past - most famously Sonia Gandhi's mother-in-law Indira, who was one of the world's first female prime ministers in 1966.