Voting begins to elect new President of India

Voting for electing the new President of India began on Monday in Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the early MPs to cast his vote at the polling booth inside the Parliament premises.

Talking to IANS Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said, "The NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu is going to win this election with a record vote and with a huge margin."

Murmu is the NDA candidate, who is contesting against Yashwant Sinha, supported by the Opposition parties.

The Rajya Sabha's Secretary General is the Returning Officer for this election.

The President is elected by members of the Electoral College consisting of elected Members of Parliament and that of all the state Assemblies, including National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The nominated Members of Parliament, state Assemblies and Members of Legislative Council are not eligible to vote.

A total of 776 Members of Parliament and 4,033 MLAs will vote in the Presidential elections.

The total value of votes is 10,86,431, of which votes of MLAs are 5,43,231 and MPs are 5,43,200.