Counting of votes for Presidential poll : Ram Nath Kovind leads by one lakh votes
According to reports, the name of India's 14th President is expected to be known by around 5 pm and whoever wins, India will have its second Dalit President after KR Naryanan.
The votes are being counted on four separate tables and there would be eight rounds of counting.
According to procedure, the ballot box from Parliament House would be opened first, followed by ballot boxes from states, in an alphabetical order.
Experts have opined that NDA backed Ram Nath Kovind is the firm favourite, who took on Meira Kumar, the opposition candidate.
Almost 99 percent voting was recorded on Monday, the highest ever in a Presidential vote.
A total of 4,895 voters -- 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs -- were eligible to cast their ballot.
However, Madhya Pradesh Minister Narottam Mishra was barred from voting as the election commission disqualified him over 'paid news' allegations.
Seventyone-year-old Ram Nath Kovind is a farmer’s son. The former Bihar Governor has also served two terms as a member of the Rajya Sabha. He is also a trained lawyer who has appeared at the High Court and Supreme Court.
: Opposition nominee Meira Kumar has been a five-time Member of Parliament. In 2009, she was elected as the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha, replacing Somnath Chaterjee.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
