The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and the next President will take oath on July 25.
Elections to vote in India's 15th President will take place Monday from 10 am to 5 pm. Facing off are the BJP-led NDA's candidate, Droupadi Murmu, and the joint Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. Here are some important things to know about this Presedential election.
1. A total of 4,809 members of the electoral college comprising MPs and MLAs will elect the successor to incumbent President Ram Nath Kovind. As of 2022, the electoral college comprises 776 MPs (Members of Parliament) and 4,033 MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly).
2. In the presidential election, members of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state legislatures cast their votes. At present, there are 233 MPs in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.
3. According to Election Commission’s directions, while MPs will get a green-coloured ballot paper, the MLAs will get a pink ballot paper to cast vote. Separate colours help the returning officer ascertain the value of vote of each MLA and MP.
4. The votes are weighted, their value determined by the population of each state as per Census 1971. The value of each MLA’s vote varies from a high of 208 in Uttar Pradesh to a low of 7 in Sikkim. This means that UP’s 403 MLAs contribute 208 × 403 = 83,824 votes to the electoral pool, while Sikkim’s 32 MLAs contribute 32 × 7 = 224 votes. The weighted votes from all the Assemblies add up to 5.43 lakh.
5. The process demands that the 776 MPs (543 in Lok Sabha, 233 in Rajya Sabha) should contribute the same total of votes as the MLAs. Thus, the value of each MP’s vote is 5.43 lakh divided by 776, rounded off to 700. The combined electoral pool from the Assemblies and Parliament adds up to 10.86 lakh.
6. President Ram Nath Kovind’s five-year term ends on July 24, and as per Article 62 of the Constitution, an election for the next president must be held before the completion of the incumbent’s term.
Who is likely to win the presidential election?
According to statistics, Draupadi Murmu, who is supported by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is predicted to win the elections easily.
Murmu, the former governor of Jharkhand, said she was optimistic of getting the support of all the MLAs and MPs from Odisha cutting across party lines as the daughter of the soil. A tribal leader who has worked her way to the top, Murmu said she was both surprised and delighted on learning on television that she had been nominated for the top job by the NDA.
She said the NDA government has now proven BJP’s slogan of “Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Biswas,” by selecting a tribal woman for the top post.
On the other hand, Yashwant Sinha, a former Union minister, has been chosen by the opposition. Sinha accepted the nomination and stated that it was time for him to leave party politics behind and strive for a more comprehensive national goal and improved opposition cohesion.
In the last election, the Opposition fielded former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar against Kovind. She had the support of 17 Opposition parties but the JD(U) chose to support Kovind. Kovind bagged 7,02,044 votes, and Kumar 3,67,314.
The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and the next President will take oath on July 25.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "NDA's candidate Droupadi Murmu and Opposition-joint candidate Yashwant Sinha")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}