New Delhi: The polling to elect the 14th President of India began at 10am on Monday across 32 polling stations, which includes one in Parliament House and one in each state legislative assembly. The main contest is between former Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind, backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, who is backed by the Congress and other opposition parties.
The electoral college, which elects the President through the system of proportional representation, comprises elected MPs and members of state legislative assemblies—a total of 4,896 voters including 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs. While 233 are elected members of the Rajya Sabha, 543 are from the Lok Sabha.
Members of legislative councils (MLCs) of states are not part of the electoral college.
The Election Commission (EC) has appointed 33 observers to oversee the conduct of election. Voting will close at 5pm today. The total value of the electoral college is 10,98,903. The ballot boxes will be brought to Delhi for counting on 20 July.
Here are the latest updates and developments from today’s presidential polls:
■ Delhi CM Arvind Kejirwal today said MLAs should vote in the presidential poll according to their conscience. Earlier in the day, an opposition BJP MLA had claimed that “10-12 legislators” of the ruling AAP had voted for the NDA’s candidate, Ram Nath Kovind.
“We are supporting Meira Kumar (opposition presidential candidate). All should vote following their conscience,” Kejriwal, who cast his vote in the Delhi assembly, said in response.
“In a democracy, whoever gets more votes wins,” Kejriwal added.
As voting for the presidential elections gathered steam with city legislators arriving at the assembly, among the first to vote were deputy CM Manish Sisodia, sacked AAP minister Kapil Mishra and Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Vijender Gupta.
“My vote went to one who is all set to become next president,” Mishra, who was the first AAP MLA to vote, told reporters here. “More than who wins, it is important that the country wins,” Sisodia said. BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma had said, “Around 10-12 AAP MLAs, who are unhappy with Kejriwal, have cast their votes in favour of Ram Nath Kovind. (PTI)
■ Voting for the presidential election began at the Goa secretariat at Porvorim today morning with chief minister Manohar Parrikar among those to cast vote in the first one hour.
Goa Forward Party’s Jayesh Salgaoncar and Vinod Palyekar, Congress’ Philip Neri Rodrigues, Ravi Naik, Digambar Kamat and Tony Fernandes, and BJP’s Pramod Sawant and Pravin Zantye were among the early voters. Goa Assembly has 40 members. However, 38 MLAs are eligible to vote in today’s election as Vishwajit Rane (Congress) and Siddharth Kuncolienkar (BJP) have resigned.
Parrikar, yet to be elected to the Assembly after he resigned as the Defence Minister and returned to the state, cast vote in his capacity as Rajya Sabha member from Lucknow.
Three MPs from the state - Shantaram Naik (Rajya Sabha), Shripad Naik (Lok Sabha) and Narendra Sawaikar (Lok Sabha) will cast their votes in Delhi.
GFP, a BJP ally, is supporting the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. GFP leader and state minister Vinod Palyekar said his party had taken the right decision to support Kovind. “We are part of the NDA. There is no question of voting for anyone else,” he said. (PTI)
■ The voting for the presidential election began in the Telangana Legislative Assembly in Hyderabad today with CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao casting the first vote. The ruling TRS had earlier declared support to NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind in the election. The TRS members arrived at the Assembly in a bus from their party office. The party yesterday conducted a meeting of its MLAs to familiarise them with the voting procedure. The value of each MLA’s vote in Telangana is 132.
In the 119-member Telangana Legislative assembly, excluding a nominated member who doesn’t have voting right in the presidential election, the ruling TRS has a strength of 82, followed by Congress (19), MIM (7), BJP (5), TDP (3), CPI (1), CPI-M (1)and Independent (1). There are 16 Lok Sabha members and 10 Rajya Sabha members from Telangana.
Noting that Meira Kumar was the Lok Sabha speaker when the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill (for the formation of Telangana) was passed, the Congress had earlier said all electors in Telangana should vote for her as an expression of gratitude. (PTI)
■ Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh cast their votes as the voting for the presidential election began in the state Assembly this morning.
In the first hour of voting which began at 10 am, 85 legislators out of the total 228 eligible voters cast their votes. Besides Chouhan and Singh, state Assembly speaker Dr Sitasharan Sharma, deputy speaker Rajendra Singh and nearly 12 ministers cast their votes for the presidential election.
The Madhya Pradesh has a total of 230 Assembly seats. However, only 228 MLAs are eligible to vote at present. The Chitrakoot Assembly seat is vacant due to the demise of Congress legislator Prem Singh and the state’s public relations minister, Narottam Mishra, has been disqualified for three years by the Election Commission over paid news charges.
There are 29 Lok Sabha MPs and 12 Rajya Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh. (PTI)
■ Voting for the presidential election was underway in the Rajasthan Assembly today with over 122 legislators exercising their franchise. The voting commenced under tight security at 10 am and 122 legislators cast their votes, an assembly spokesperson said. The Rajasthan Assembly has 200 MLAs, of which 199 will cast their votes. Former CM Ashok Gehlot will vote in Gujarat, the spokesperson said. (PTI)
■ “There is no rocket science, Ram Nath Kovind will win today,” NCP leader Praful Patel said in the Parliament House complex. “Because all MPs don’t necessarily vote only according to conscience, they also vote according to party lines and party lines are divided somewhat on ideology, principles and political positioning. So, I don’t read too much into any other statement, except the fact that this is a clear case of the NDA scoring big in terms of the numbers,” he added.
■ The voting for the presidential election started at the Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai this morning with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, who is an MLA from Nagpur, among the early voters.
Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar also reached the polling centre early to cast his vote. Jailed NCP MLAs Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam are also expected to cast their votes in the presidential election, a Vidhan Bhawan official said. A special PMLA court recently allowed Bhujbal’s application seeking permission to vote in the election.
The Bombay High Court had on Friday granted permission to NCP MLA Ramesh Kadam, who is in jail after his arrest in an alleged corruption case, to vote in the election.
There are 288 MLAs in Maharashtra who are eligible to vote in the election. Besides, there are 48 Lok Sabha MPs and 19 Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra. The MPs from the state are expected to vote in Delhi, the official said. (PTI)
■ Voting for the presidential election began at the Chhattisgarh Assembly complex in Raipur today morning. The voting started at Samiti Kaksh-2 (committee room-2) in the Vidhansabha premises at 10 am, said Devendra Verma, principal secretary, Vidhansabha, who is acting as assistant returning officer for the election.
By 10.30 am, at least 35 legislators, including ministers Rajesh Munat, Premprakash Pandey, Amar Agrawal, Ramsewak Paikra and Punnulal Mohile, had cast votes.
NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind is pitted against Congress-led opposition’s candidate Meira Kumar in today’s election.
In the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, BJP has 49 MLAs whereas the Congress has 39. One MLA is from the BSP while another is independent legislator.
Marwahi MLA Amit Jogi, expelled from the Congress, had said he would support Meira Kumar. The Congress has also suspended Gunderdehi MLA Rajendra Kumar Rai. In the Lok Sabha, the BJP has 10 MPs from Chhattisgarh while the Congress has one. (PTI)
■ Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar says, “Today is a very important day. Today the collegium will take a decision. This contest is to fight for social justice, transparency, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of press. It’s an ideology that binds us together. I ask members of collegium to pay heed to the voice of their conscience and keep the best interest of the country in mind.”
■ Samajwadi Party legislator Shivpal Yadav says “NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind is a known to me already. He is our neighbour and a Dalit.” (Hindustan Times)
■ With both Kovind and Kumar belonging to the Dalit community, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati expressed satisfaction that a Dalit leader would occupy office of the president irrespective of who won the poll.
Mayawati also claimed it was because of her party that the NDA and the opposition had to field candidates from the community.
“Winning or losing (a poll) is a different issue. Whoever wins, the good thing is a Scheduled Caste person will be the country’s president. And I think it is a good thing for our movement, the party. And the NDA, the BJP had to field a Dalit candidate for the presidential poll because of the BSP and the other side (the opposition) too,” she told reporters outside Parliament. (PTI)
■ Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, sacked AAP leader Kapil Mishra, Two of the three BJP MLAs—OP Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan—and other Delhi legislators cast their votes at the assembly. (Hindustan Times)
■ “Kovind ji will win (the election) with a respectable and comfortable margin,” Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters ahead of the polling. Naidu, however, refused to comment on the BJP parliamentary board’s meeting to pick the ruling alliance’s vice presidential candidate. Let the presidential poll get over first, he said. (PTI)
■ The CPI(M), which is backing Meira Kumar, urged voters, comprising MPs and MLAs, to pick the “custodian of the Constitution” thoughtfully.
“Hope the Electoral College picks the custodian of India’s Constitution thoughtfully: Vote to uphold Constitutional Values of our Republic,” party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Twitter.
Hope the Electoral College picks the custodian of India's Constitution thoughtfully: Vote to uphold Constitutional Values of our Republic.
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) July 17, 2017
■ Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh casts his vote in state assembly premises for presidential poll.
■ Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel said that all NCP MPs and legislators have voted for Meira Kumar. (ANI)
■ Chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Assembly speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao led the MLAs in casting their votes for the presidential election in Andhra Pradesh today. Naidu was the first to cast his vote followed by Kodela at the polling booth in the state Assembly’s committee hall. The ruling Telugu Desam Party MLAs then cast their votes. The four BJP MLAs also cast their votes along with their ally.
Leader of Opposition and YSR Congress president Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy led his party MLAs in the polling process.
All the 175 MLAs in the AP Assembly, including those of the lone opposition YSRC, had earlier pledged their support to NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.
From Andhra Pradesh, the Congress has only four members in the Rajya Sabha and none in the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly. (PTI)
■ Punjab CM Cpt. Amrinder Singh casts his vote. “Feel a great sense of responsibility at being part of an important democratic process,” he said in a tweet.
■ DMK working president MK Stalin casts his vote at Tamil Nadu Assembly with the Dravidian party supporting opposition candidate Meira Kumar.
■ Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel was among the first to cast vote as voting for the presidential election started at the state secretariat in Ahmedabad today. As the Assembly complex is undergoing renovation, the voting is taking place at Swarnim Sankul-2 complex inside the secretariat.
NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind was here on Saturday to seek support of BJP MLAs and MPs. UPA candidate Meira Kumar visited Gujarat last month to launch her campaign from the iconic Sabarmati Ashram.
Congress chief whip Balwantsinh Rajput said MLAs and MPs can also cast vote in Delhi.
Meanwhile, rebel BJP MLA Nalin Kotadia said he will vote against the NDA candidate to protest “atrocities” against members of the Patel community during the 2015 quota agitation. Kotadia was suspended from the party recently.
The ruling BJP has 122 MLAs in Gujarat, while the Congress has 57, the NCP two and the JD(U) one in the 182-member Assembly.
In the Lok Sabha, all 26 MPs from the state belong to the BJP. BJP president Amit Shah, the MLA from Naranpura constituency in Ahmedabad, will cast his vote in Delhi, party sources said. (PTI)
■ Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Union minister Uma Bharti were among those who cast their votes for the presidential poll in Lucknow today. The voting begun at 10 am at the Tilak Hall here.
After casting his vote, the chief minister told reporters that NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind will win the election with a huge margin. “This is matter of pride for the people of Uttar Pradesh, the the son of the state is going to become the President”, he said.
Both Adityanath and Maurya have not yet resigned from the Lok Sabha and are voters as MPs. After the conclusion of voting at 5 pm, the ballot boxes will be sealed and sent to Delhi. (PTI)
■ PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah cast their vote.
#PresidentialPoll2017: Prime Minister @narendramodi and #BJP president @AmitShah cast their votes pic.twitter.com/9XNmEuRyzh
— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) July 17, 2017
■ Assam legislators, including chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, cast their votes in the presidential election. (HT)
■ In Maharashtra legislative assembly, jailed MLAs Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam will be brought from prison for voting in the presidential polls, according to a News18 report.
■ In Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) is supporting NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind, while senior partner Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is backing opposition candidate Meira Kumar.
Interestingly, Nitish has backed opposition’s vice-presidential nominee Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
■ The BJP-led NDA has 537,683 votes, including the votes of the Shiv Sena, and the shortage is around 12,000 votes. But the promised support from Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the YSR Congress and the likely backing from factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) could offset the shortfall. (PTI)
■ Meira Kumar is expected to get 35.4% of the votes, including by legislators of RJD, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Trinamool Congress (TMC).
In the 2012 elections, Pranab Mukherjee garnered 7,13,763 votes, while Pratibha Patil secured 6,38,116 votes before that in 2007.
Both Mukherjee and Patil were Congress nominees. This time, the Lok Sabha secretary general is the returning officer. Last time, it was the secretary general of the Rajya Sabha. (PTI)
■ Members of Parliament (MPs) and members of legislative assembly (MLAs) who vote to elect the next President on Monday have been barred from carrying their personal pens inside the voting chamber and will have to mark their ballot with a specially-designed marker, the Election Commission said on Sunday. (PTI) Read more
■ A total of 4,896 lawmakers will vote to elect the successor to President Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office on 25 July.
■ Out of a total of 95 candidates filing nominations for the top Constitutional post, 93 were rejected on various grounds, leaving only Kovind and Kumar in the fray, according to an Indian Express report.
