Pratibha Patil sworn in as India's 12th President

New Delhi, July 25 (UNI) India today got its first woman President when Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil was sworn in as the Head of the State for a five-year term in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Mrs Patil, who becomes the 12th President of India, was sworn in by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan at the Central Hall of Parliament.

The glittering function was attended, among others, by her predecessor APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Cabinet ministers and other dignitaries.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan, Governors, Chief Ministers, Heads of Diplomatic Missions, MPs and top Civil and Military officials were among those attended the function.

Outgoing President Kalam and President-elect Pratibha Patil arrived in the Central Hall in a ceremonial procession at 1425 hrs.

This is the first time that a President-elect was sworn in the afternoon. All her eleven predecessors took oath in the forenoon.

A former Governor of Rajasthan, Mrs Patil was elected to the highest constitutional office on July 21 as the UPA-Left nominee, defeating NDA-backed Independent candidate Shekhawat by a huge margin.

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