15 President vote counting

 

Draupadi Murmu or Yashwant Sinha?
(Counting of votes today to elect 15th President of India)

(Yashwant (L) & Draupadi (R) ) 

July, 21, 2022:

Draupadi Murmu or Yashwant Sinha? India on Thursday (July 21, 2022) will know who will become the country's 15th President, as the counting of votes for the presidential poll begins in New Delhi.

The ballot boxes from all states had reached the Parliament House on Tuesday and the poll officials will begin counting at 11 am in room number 63, the strongroom of Parliament where the boxes are guarded behind round-the-clock security. Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody, the Chief Returning Officer for the election, will oversee the counting and the result is expected to be declared by the evening.

Votes, however, are clearly stacked in favour of Draupadi Murmu, the ruling NDA's candidate, who, if elected, will succeed incumbent Ram Nath Kovind to become the first tribal woman to occupy the top constitutional post in the country. The new president will take oath on July 25 as Kovind's tenure is scheduled to end on July 24.

All ballot boxes from state assemblies had reached the Parliament's strongroom on Tuesday and have been locked there since. The ballot boxes had been flown into Delhi as 'Mr Ballot Box' from across the states.

Polling for the presidential election was held on Monday between 10 am to 5 pm across 31 locations including the Parliament House and 30 centres within state legislative assemblies.

Sealed Ballot box accompanied by ARO from Jaipur, Rajasthan reached Delhi today after conclusion of polling for Presidential Election 2022. 

MPs of both, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, except nominated MPs, and all MLAs in the legislative assembly in all states act as electors in the presidential poll. A total of 4,809 electors, comprising 776 MPs and 4,033 elected MLAs, are entitled to vote in the election, but nominated MPs and MLAs, and Members of the Legislative Council are not.

According to the Election Commission, over 99 per cent of the total electors had cast their ballot in these polls.

(Courtesy: Agencies)