Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE 
 
 LONDON — India chose an “untouchable” as its next president Thursday after the first contest in which both candidates were from the lowest tier of the country's caste system. 
 
 Ram Nath Kovind, nominated by the ruling BJP party, had been clear favorite for the largely ceremonial post, which is decided by 4,800 lawmakers across the country. 
 
 Under India’s constitution, the prime minister and his ministers wield executive power but the president sometimes plays a role such as deciding which party should form a government if a general election is inconclusive. 
 
 Kovind, 72, is not the first president to be “Dalit,” a term that means “oppressed” in Sanskrit and refers to members of the lowest caste. Kocheril Raman Narayanan took office in 1997 more than half a century after Gandhi pledged to end the country’s ancient system of discrimination. 
 
 Ram Nath Kovind, India's 14th president. Amit Dave / Reuters 
 
 It is, however, the first time since India gained independence from Britain in 1947 that both the final candidates were Dalit — former diplomat Meira Kumar was also low-caste — and it is also the first time that the upper-caste dominated BJP has nominated a Dalit for the job. 
 
 One-fifth of all parliamentary candidates must be Dalit under decades-long affirmative-action laws introduced to improve representation and outlaw discrimination. Dalits are also guaranteed a proportion of college places and government jobs. 
 
 But while social mobility has improved, particularly in India’s fast-growing cities, rural areas still often witness members of lower castes forced to live in separate areas or prevented from using communal facilities such as water fountains. 
 
 Caste campaigner Behan Mayawati called Thursday’s result “a huge victory.” 
 
 James Chiriyankandath, a senior research fellow at the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies, said the real significance was not about caste but rather the expanding influence of the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and its brand of Hindu nationalism. 
 
 Related: Why Cow Urine Can Be as Valuable as Milk in India 
 
 “Caste still plays an important role in electoral mobilization but the religious divide between Hindus and non-Hindus, particularly Muslims, has become one of the main fissures in Indian politics,” he told NBC News. 
 
 “It is the most explosive division in India today. Tensions could be built up with the pursuit of policies such as bans on the slaughter of cows.” 
 
 He said BJP lawmakers in northern areas of India has “ratcheted up the tension on these religious lines.” 
 
 14th President of India is #RamNathKovind. A Dalit who has made it big by quiet hard work, not because of his family or for serving a family — Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) July 20, 2017 
 
 One-sixth of India’s population — about 200 million out of a total 1.35 billion — is Muslim, Chiriyankandath said. Much smaller minorities include Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists. 
 
 India will next month elect a vice-president. Another victory for the BJP would give it unprecedented influence in parliament — and potentially a role in deciding the outcome of the 2019 general election if the result is inconclusive. 
 
 “These elections are important in terms of consolidation of BJP’s grip on power,” Chiriyankandath said. 
 
 Since the rise of the BJP, India has seen a rise in Hindu nationalism, including the emergence of “cow vigilante” attacks on people accused of eating beef or slaughtering cows, which are sacred to Hindus. ||||| New Delhi (CNN) A relatively unknown political operator and member of India's lowest Dalit caste has been elected as the country's 14th president. 
 
 Ram Nath Kovind, who until recently was governor of the eastern state of Bihar, won an overwhelming majority to beat opposition Congress party candidate, Meira Kumar, a former parliament speaker and also a member of the Dalit community. 
 
 Kovind secured 2,930 votes in a secret nationwide ballot involving near to 5,000 lawmakers from the central parliament and state legislatures. Kumar received 1,844 votes. 
 
 20 years ago and the present...always been a privilege to know you, President Elect. pic.twitter.com/IkhnOtYf8N 
 
 The election of 71-year-old Kovind, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, is widely viewed as part of a strategy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen support among India's 200 million-strong Dalit community. 
 
 Kovind is the second Dalit to become Indian president, after K. R. Narayanan , in office from 1997 to 2002. 
 
 Dalits, who are often referred to as untouchables, occupy the lowest rung on India's caste system. Traditionally viewed as "impure" the group continues to grapple with persecution and exclusion. 
 
 Kovind, a lawyer by training who has practiced in both the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court, has never held popularly elected office and lacks an independent power base. For the last two years he has occupied the governorship of Bihar, a position appointed by the prime minister. He also served as the national spokesman of the BJP between 2010 and 2012. 
 
 Ram Nath Kovind delivers a speech in presence of Gujarat Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) members in Gandhinagar, on July 15, 2017. 
 
 Ceremonial role 
 
 Though the five-year post is largely ceremonial, Kovind's election will help strengthen Modi's grip on power, say analysts. 
 
 "Modi would not like anyone in Rashtrapati Bhavan (the President's House) who can question him, that's why Kovind was picked," said Satish Misra, a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, an independent think tank based in Delhi. 
 
 Unlike the American president, and in line with other Westminster-style governments, the role of India's president lacks any real executive authority. All decisions taken by the president require the approval of the prime minister and the council of ministers. 
 
 However, each piece of legislation passed by parliament requires the president's sign-off. As a result, the president can delay key legislation taken by the prime minister, and can symbolically signal disapproval of controversial bills. 
 
 Having a compliant president will help Modi if parliament does not cooperate with his agenda. The prime minister can pass ordinances, similar to a US executive order, with the approval of the president, said Shailesh Kumar, a senior analyst with the Eurasia Group. 
 
 Dalit identity 
 
 Analysts point to the recent rise in mob violence directed at minorities as among the BJP's primary motives in selecting Kovind. 
 
 "There's a disillusionment among the Dalits," said Satish Misra. "That's why it's necessary for the ruling party to send a signal that we are with you." 
 
 Kovind is also a member of the the Koli ethnic group, an important voting bloc in Modi's home state of Gujarat. A survey by the Centre for Study of Developing Societies found that members of the Koli community, many of whom are Dalit, switched their support from the Congress Party to the BJP between 2007 and 2012. 
 
 "Until now, Dalits never voted for the BJP. But in 2014, some percentage of the votes went to the BJP," Misra added. "The fact remains that Dalits constitute over 20% of the Indian population and they're a vote bank."
– Members of the low-caste Dalit community in India were once known as "untouchables." How times have changed: Two just competed against each other for the largely ceremonial office of president, and 71-year-old Ram Nath Kovind came out on top, reports CNN. In India, the real power is with the prime minister. Kovind isn't actually the first Dalit president, the first coming in 1997, notes NBC News. In fact, one analyst tells the network that the real significance of the election isn't the caste factor but its reflection of the growing power of the ruling BJP Party. Both Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi belong to the BJP (which is why the election was never really in doubt), and Modi's blessing of Kovind is seen as a calculated strategy to woo other members of the 200-million-strong Dalit community. "Dalit politics suddenly has come center stage with a bang," another analyst tells the New York Times. "Every leader is bending over backward to show, 'I am a well-wisher.'" India elects its vice president next month, and BJP is counting on another win to cement its influence over Parliament.