Presidential polls on July 18, Murmu has definite edge

Around 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs on Monday will vote on choose the next President of India with the ruling NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu all set to romp home comfortably after parties holding around 60 per cent of votes in the electoral college pledging support to her over her rival Yashwant Sinha.

The polling will take place in Parliament and State Assemblies while the counting of votes will be in Parliament on July 21. The new president will succeed Ram Nath Kovind on July 25.

Also Read: Droupadi Murmu: New icon of subaltern Hindutva

Murmu, who will be the first tribal and second woman to be President once elected, is likely to garner 6.61 lakh votes out of 10,86,431 votes, if all votes are polled, while Sinha, the joint Opposition candidate, may get a maximum of 4.19 lakh.

The BJP had stumped the opponents by choosing Murmu for the Presidential bid, prompting some in the Opposition like JMM and JD(S) that had pledged support to Sinha changed tones.

Non-NDA, non-UPA parties like BJD, YSR Congress, Akali Dal, TDP and Shiv Sena too had pledged support for Murmu, dwindling Sinha's vote count. However, the Opposition did not stand from the start itself as the NDA was only 9,000 votes short of the majority in the electoral college and it was sure that parties like YSR Congress and BJD would not go the other way.

For the Opposition, the Presidential election unravelled the troubles within, as it initially wanted NCP supremo Sharad Pawar to fight the battle but he as well as National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah said no. Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson and former Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi also declined the Opposition invite, which prompted the Opposition to pick Sinha, who was Trinamool Congress' choice.

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As the Opposition wanted the Presidential poll to be an ideological one, Sinha said that the Presidential election is not a contest between two individuals but two ideologies. "Only one side wants to protect the provisions and values enshrined in our Constitution," he said.

In an appeal to MPs and MLAs on Sunday, Sinha said, "My rival, again make no mistake, will be under the control of those whose aim is to convert democratic India into an imitator of Communist China -- One Nation, One Party, One Supreme Leader. Must this not be stopped? Yes, it must be, Only you can stop it."

He also urged BJP lawmakers to vote for him as the BJP under AB Vajpayee and LK Advani is dead.

On Saturday, BJP president J P Nadda asked party lawmakers to ensure 100 per cent voting. Nadda also instructed the MPs to take care that no mistake is made while casting votes in the presidential and vice presidential polls, they said.

Ballot papers

Green for MPs

Blue for MLAs

Separate colours will help during counting as value of votes of MLA and MP differ

Value of vote

MPs -- 700 from 708 in this presidential poll due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.

MLAs -- Differ from state to state. UP has the highest value at 208. Sikkim the least at 7

Pen

To maintain secrecy of voting, a specially designed pen with violet ink will be given to voters