Voting for the presidential election in which NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu is pitted against joint Opposition pick Yashwant Sinha began on July 18. Polling began at 10 a.m. and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to cast his vote. The voting process would conclude at 5 p.m.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs are entitled to vote in the election, but nominated MPs and MLAs, and members of Legislative Councils are not. Besides Room number 63 on the first floor of Parliament House, which has been converted into a polling station, voting is simultaneously taking place at various State Assemblies.
In the national capital, voting is also under way at the Delhi legislative Assembly. Counting of votes will be held on July 21.
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How is Indian President elected?
India
‘The unopposed President’
Did you know only one President has been elected unopposed so far? It was the country’s seventh President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.
Incidentally in 1969, Reddy, the official candidate of the Congress, was defeated by V. V. Giri when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called for a “conscience vote” in her bid to trump her detractors within the party.
When he contested again in 1977, two years after the Emergency, Reddy was the only candidate in fray since the nomination papers of 36 other aspirants were rejected. He succeeded Fakruddin Ali Ahmed after his death in 1977. – PTI
Odisha
With Droupadi Murmu’s Presidential nomination, great expectations on the ground
Pahadpur village in Mayurbhanj, Odisha, rejoices at the prospect of its ‘daughter-in-law’ Droupadi Murmu becoming India’s next President. Elsewhere in the tribal heartlands, the nomination itself is being seen as a triumph of political aspirations and a breakthrough moment for the community.
Hundreds of men and women in their traditional costumes could be seen entering the village playground and interlocking their arms for a dance sequence. Amid the beating of drums, the dancers moved in circular and semicircular formations and kept dancing till they were completely exhausted. – Satyasundar Barik
Gujarat
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel, Speaker Acharya cast their votes
Voting to elect the country’s 15th President was under way in the Gujarat Assembly complex, with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya being among the first to cast their ballot.
Former State Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, ex-Deputy CM Nitin Patel and Leader of Opposition Sukhram Rathva were also among the early voters. The voting began in the State Assembly complex in Gandhinagar at 10 a. m. and will continue till 5 p. m.
After casting his vote, BJP MLA and Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani expressed confidence that Ms. Murmu will get more than 111 votes as Opposition MLAs will also vote for her. – PTI
Goa
Goa CM Sawant casts vote; says Droupadi Murmu will get maximum votes
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant cast his vote for the election of the country’s next President. After casting his vote on the State Assembly premises, Mr. Sawant told reporters that he has requested all the MLAs to vote for the National Democratic Alliance’s candidate Droupadi Murmu in the Presidential election.
.“I am confident that we (NDA nominee) will get the maximum votes,” said the CM, who was among the early voters.
BJP MLA Dr Deviya Rane after casting her vote said, “We had an interaction with Murmu recently. It is an honour to vote for her.” The BJP has 20 Legislators in the 40-member Goa Assembly. It also has the support of two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three Independents.
Goa Congress president Amit Patkar told reporters that the Opposition stands united and will vote for Yashwant Sinha.
The Congress has 11 MLAs, the Aam Aadmi Party has two Legislators, while the Goa Forward Party and the Revolutionary Goans have one member each in the House. – PTI
New Delhi
Former PM Manmohan Singh casts vote
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh casts his vote for the Presidential Election at the Parliament house, in New Delhi, on July 18.
| Photo Credit: R. V. Moorthy
Punjab & Haryana
Voting at Punjab, Haryana Assemblies under way
Voting for the Presidential election began at the Punjab and Haryana Assembly complexes at 10 a.m. Necessary arrangements for the polling have been made at the Vidhan Sabha complexes and the voting will be held till 5 p. m., officials said.
In Punjab, MLAs who cast their vote early in the day included Congress’ Partap Bajwa, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Sukhjinder Randhawa, and AAP leader and Cabinet Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak.
In Haryana, Minister Kamal Gupta was the first to vote. Many MLAs from the ruling BJP-Jannayak Janata Party reached the Assembly complex for the polling while Legislators from the main Opposition Congress are expected to vote in the afternoon.
Speaking to reporters, Punjab Congress MLA Khaira said, “We will vote for Yashwant Sinha and we expect that he will become the country’s next President.” In the 117-member Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the AAP has 92 MLAs while the Congress has 18.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has three Legislators while the BJP has two, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) one and there is one Independent MLA. The AAP and the Congress have declared their support to Mr. Sinha while the SAD and the BSP have extended support to Ms. Murmu. The vote value of each of the MLA in the Punjab Assembly is 116, an official said.
Out of the 13 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress has eight MPs, the SAD and BJP have two each while one is from the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). All the seven Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab are from the AAP.
In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, 89 MLAs will cast their vote in the Vidhan Sabha complex while Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who had cross-voted in last month’s Rajya Sabha polls and was subsequently expelled from all party positions, will cast his vote in the Parliament House.
In the Haryana Assembly, the vote value of each of the MLA is 112, which pegs the cumulative value at 10,080. For the MPs, the value of the vote was reduced to 700 from 708 due to the absence of a Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir. – PTI
Maharashtra
Maharashtra will create a political history in Presidential polls: Ashish Shelar
BJP MLA and former State Minister Ashish Shelar claimed that Ms. Murmu will get “record-breaking” votes from Maharashtra.
“She will get votes across the party lines. You will see a huge turnout in this election. So, the lead that you see from Maharashtra will create a political history in the Presidential polls,” he further claimed while talking to reporters.
Taking a dig at the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a coalition of the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (the NCP) and the Congress, Mr. Shelar said it did not seem to have coordination. The Opposition MLAs will vote in favour of Ms. Murmu, much against the decision of their respective parties, he said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and other lawmakers from the State cast their vote at Vidhan Bhawan’s central hall. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar (the NCP) and Congress’s Balasaheb Thorat were also among the early voters.
Pune BJP MLA Mukta Tilak, who is suffering from a serious illness, also arrived in the Vidhan Bhawan to cast her vote. – PTI
Madhya Pradesh
Voting under way in Madhya Pradesh Assembly complex
Legislators queued up in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly complex on July 18 to cast their vote to elect the country’s next President. Chief Minister and senior BJP leaders Shivraj Singh Chouhan was among the early voters.
Mr. Chouhan was seen meeting some of his party Legislators standing in a queue to cast their vote. Meanwhile, talking to the reporters, State Home Minister Narottam Mishra claimed Ms. Murmu will win the Presidential poll with a huge margin. – PTI
Chennai
M.K. Stalin among early voters
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin casting his vote in the Presidential election at state secretariat in Chennai on Monday.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who was discharged from a private hospital today, reached Secretariat to cast his vote.
The ruling DMK-led alliance has extended its support to former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.
New Delhi
Electoral fate of Murmu, Sinha to be stored in ballot boxes, not EVMs
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other MPs flash victory sign as they arrive to cast votes for the presidential election, on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, on Monday, July 18, 2022.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Ever wondered why electronic voting machines, used in four Lok Sabha elections and 127 Assembly polls since 2004, are not deployed in polls to elect the President and Vice President of India, members of Rajya Sabha, and members of State legislative councils? The EVMs are based on a technology where they work as aggregator of votes in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
Voters press the button against the name of the candidate of their choice and the one who bags the maximum number of votes is declared elected. But the election of the President is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
In accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote, every elector can mark as many preferences, as there are candidates contesting the election. – PTI
Amaravati
CM Jagan casts first vote in Andhra Pradesh in Presidential poll
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy cast the first vote as polling process for the presidential election got underway at 10 a.m. in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Speaker Tammineni Sitaram was the next to exercise his franchise. Several ministers then cast their votes.
The ruling YSR Congress pledged its support to the NDA’s presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu. The opposition Telugu Desam Party has also backed Ms. Murmu. – PTI
Jaipur
Voting for presidential elections begins in Rajasthan
Polling began for the presidential elections on the Rajasthan Assembly premises here at 10 a.m. on Monday, with State Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot among early voters.
The State Government’s chief whip in the Assembly, Mahesh Joshi, also reached there to cast his vote.
Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said the polling will continue till 5 p.m. – PTI
Yashwant Sinha
Yashwant Sinha | A career of many turns
Yashwant Sinha’s political career has come full circle. From being a trenchant critic of the Congress and the Left as a BJP leader for over two decades to a joint Opposition candidate in the July 18 Presidential election, supported by both.
Mr. Sinha was born in Patna on November 6, 1937, as the ninth of 11 siblings. His father was an advocate in the Patna High Court. At the age of 23, Mr. Sinha joined the Indian Administrative Service and was allotted the Bihar cadre. Fourteen years into the job, in 1974, answering the call for “Total Revolution” from Jai Prakash Narayan, Mr. Sinha wanted to quit the service. He writes in his autobiography, Relentless, that he was dissuaded by the family that was solely dependent on his salary and many leaders, including JP himself.
Droupadi Murmu
Being Droupadi Murmu — the arc of a gritty career and diverse people’s struggles
The announcement of former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu’s name as the Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is historic not just because of her own political and life journey, but also for what she represents.
Mumbai
Cross-voting fears in Maharashtra Congress, NCP
As lawmakers from Maharashtra gear up to vote on Monday to elect the country’s next president, there are concerns among the opposition parties over the possibility of cross-voting.
MLAs and MPs form the electoral college to elect the President of India.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — the two main opposition parties in Maharashtra — have already held meetings with their legislators to ensure there is no any cross-voting in favour of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s candidate Droupadi Murmu.
The opposition is concerned as Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday claimed that Murmu would get the support of 200 MLAs from the State.
“We will manage to get the votes of 200 MLAs for Droupadi Murmu. We want a very comfortable win for her,” he said. – PTI
New Delhi
All set for Presidential election; Droupadi Murmu has an edge over Yashwant Sinha
The election for the President of India will be held on Monday. The contest is between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu and the Opposition’s choice, senior politician and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.
