Indian lawmakers are set to elect the country’s next president, drawn from the main Hindu nationalist group, in a vote on Monday, tightening the control of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing associates on positions of power. Under India’s constitution, the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues wield executive power and the president remains above the fray. The president of India is above politics,” he said, while filing his nomination last month. Meira Kumar, the opposition candidate put up by the centrist Congress and communist parties, said her candidacy aimed to fight the ideology Kovind represents. Kovind’s election will cap a series of top appointments Modi has made, strengthening the grip of the Hindu right on public offices, such as state chief ministers and governors, but also academic institutions and thinktanks.

Source: Dhaka Tribune July 14, 2017 08:26 UTC