What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Draupadi Murmu is poised to become the 15th President of India, experts said as the voting concluded on Monday evening.
Murmu, the former Governor of Jharkhand, will become the first tribal President of India if she manages to beat Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, which is, in all likelihood, set to happen.
The President is elected by an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – and MLAs of the states, and Union territories Delhi and Puducherry.
As per the electoral college, a total of 776 MPs and 4033 legislators are eligible to vote. With NDA commanding an overwhelming majority, Murmu’s election as the successor of President Ram Nath Kovind, whose tenure ends on July 25, seems imminent.
As per the established practice, the fixed value of each vote of a Member of Parliament of both houses is 708. One has to divide the population of the state by the number of MLAs in its assembly to find the value of the vote. It has then to be divided by the quotient by 1000. With 80 Lok Sabha MPs, 38 Rajya Sabha MPs and 403 MLAs, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of votes in the country
A candidate needs 50 per cent of the total votes to win the Presidential elections. The total value of votes of the electoral college stands at 10,86,431 in the presidential elections.
NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu has got the backing of the ruling alliance and major political parties who are not in alliance with the NDA.
As per the political projections, Murmu appears to have the support of over 60 per cent votes (6.67 lakh) of the total votes and is headed to be India’s next President.
Sinha has only tried to make it a contest, said a political observer based in Delhi.
The voting for the presidential election started at 10 am and concluded at 5 pm at the Parliament House and state assemblies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first MP to cast his vote at the polling booth set up inside Parliament premises. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who came to the Parliament in a wheelchair, also exercised his franchise.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who cast his vote at the polling station inside the UP assembly, prayed for the victory of Indian democracy.
The support of regional satraps like Naveen Patnaik, Jaganmohan Reddy and Hemant Soren has further cemented Murmu’s claim.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati have also pledged their support to Murmu.
Political analysts said many MPs and MLAs belonging to scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) may vote in favour of Murmu by disregarding their party affiliations.
