Polling to elect next President of India to be held on Monday

New Delhi, July 18, 2022

Polling will be held today to elect the next President of India -- the highest elective office in the country which will see the electoral college choose between the ruling BJP-led NDA's candidate Draupadi Murmu, the former Governor of Jharkhand, and the joint Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, a former Union Minister.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has set up polling booths in Parliament House here and in the premises of State Legislative Assemblies across the country. Polling will begin at 10 am.

Counting of votes will be taken up on July 21 and the result will be known on the same day.

The five-year term of President Ram Nath Kovind is due to end on July 24 and, as per Article 62 of the Constitution of India, an election to choose his successor is required to be completed before the expiration of the term.

As per the Article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament, and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all States including the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

(The nominated members of either Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha or Legislative Assemblies of the States are not eligible to be included in the Electoral College and therefore, they are not entitled to participate in the election. Similarly, members of the Legislative Councils are also not electors for the Presidential election).

In all, 776 Members of Parliament (MPs) and 4,033 Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) will vote in the elections.

The value of votes of the elected members of State Legislative Assemblies and both Houses of Parliament is governed by Article 55(2) of the Constitution. The total value of votes for MLAs for 16th Presidential Election is 543,231. The total value of votes for MPs is 543200. The total value of vote of electors for the Presidential Election, 2022 is 1,086,431.

The Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha is the Returning Officer for the election.

The last Presidential election was held on July 17, 2017 and the result was announced on July 20. Ram Nath Kovind, the candidate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance, had defeated former Lok Sabha Speaker and Congress leader Meira Kumar, the Opposition candidate.

Kovind, 76, had before that served as the Governor of Bihar from August 16, 2015 to June 20, 2017. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from April 3, 1994 to April 2, 2006.

NNN