Legislators get redact for President Poll

By Our Special Correspondent

Around 4,800 MPs and MLAs will vote to elect the 15th President on Monday, with Ram Nath Kovind's term ending on July 24. Polling will be held from 10 am to 5 pm in Parliament House and state legislatures. Counting of votes will be held on July 21 and the next President will be sworn in on July 25.

With the support of regional parties like BJD, YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JD(S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and now JMM, the Murmu vote share is likely to reach almost two-thirds. First woman from a tribal community to hold the highest constitutional post.

Before naming Sinha, a former Union minister during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the opposition camp approached former Bengal Governor Gopala krishna Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah to enter the presidential fray. In the 2017 elections, Ram Nath Kovind became the President after defeating the joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar. Out of a total of 10, 69,358 votes, Kovind polled 7, 02,000 votes compared to Kumar's 3, 67,000.

In states, the value of each MLA vote varies from state to state. Uttar Pradesh has a vote value of 208 per MLA, followed by Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu with 176. In Maharashtra it is 175. In Sikkim each MLA vote is worth seven, in Nagaland it is nine and in Mizoram it is eight.

The President is elected under the proportional representation system by a single transferable vote. According to the system of proportional representation by single transfer vote, each elector can identify as many preferences as there are candidates competing in the election.