22 July 2012 Last updated at 07:58 ET

Pranab Mukherjee elected India president

Pranab Mukherjee was widely tipped to win the election

Former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has won the Indian presidential election.

Mr Mukherjee, a veteran of the ruling Congress Party, was elected by members of the national and state parliaments.

The position is largely ceremonial but he could help determine who forms the next government after elections in 2014 if there is no clear winner.

Mr Mukherjee's term runs for five years. He replaces Pratibha Patil, who was India's first woman president.

PRANAB MUKHERJEE

The veteran Congress party leader Pranab Mukherjee was born in 1935 in West Bengal.

He was a teacher, a journalist and a lawyer before being elected in 1969 to the upper house of parliament. He has served as finance, foreign and defence minister, and has held other influential positions in the government.

He fell out with the Congress leaders in 1986 and started his own party, but returned to the party fold two years later. He has served on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

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He defeated Purno Sangma, a former speaker of the lower house of parliament who had the backing of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

The BBC's Asia analyst Jill McGivering describes Mr Mukherjee as a grand old man of the Congress Party, a smart operator with political savvy who knows how to forge alliances.

The 2014 elections are not expected to produce a clear result. In that case, the president could play a decisive role.

Correspondents say Mr Mukherjee's victory will come as a big boost to the Congress Party, which has been under pressure over a series of corruption scandals and a slowdown in the Indian economy.

Mr Mukherjee has headed several top government ministries during his career, including the foreign, home, defence and trade ministries.