Presidential election results LIVE updates: NDA’s presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind (L) and Opposition’s presidential nominee Meira Kumar.
Ram Nath Kovind has been elected as the 14th President of the country. He won the Presidential contest beating Meira Kumar of the Opposition. Kovind, the former Governor of Bihar, has served as a BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha as well.
Presidential election results LIVE updates:
6:43 pm: All over India people are celebrating. We all are very happy.It is a proud moment for us: Swati, Daughter of President Elect Ram Nath Kovind
6:38 pm: I firmly believe that his term will take the Post to greater heights & add more dignity to it: Amit Shah
6:31 pm: Congratulate the 14th President of India Ram Nath Kovind. Congratulations to Meira Kumar for the courage she has shown: Lalu Prasad Yadav
6:22 pm: Arvind Kejriwal said, “Congratulations to Sh Ram Nath Kovind ji for becoming President of India.”
6:20 pm: People are celebrating outside the ancestral home of Ram Nath Kovind in Kanpur
6:17 pm: I would like to thank 116 MPs & MLAs of the other side who listened to their conscience & voted in favour of Kovind ji: Bhupender Yadav, BJP
6:03 pm: JP veteran L K Advani congratulates Kovind
5:47 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets President Elect Ram Nath Kovind
PM Modi met Ram Nath Kovind (Source: ANI)
5:39 pm: Sushil Kumar Modi also congratulated Kovind.
5:32 pm: Senior BJP leader MM Joshi said, “Congratulations, hope he will be a successful president& will work for marginalised & poor ppl”
5:28 pm: Best wishes to the Hon Sri Ram Nath Kovind Garu, President of India. May the Indian democracy thrive under his able leadership: N Chandrababu Naidu
5: 27 pm: Suresh Prabhu also congratulated Ram Nath Kovind. He said, “Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the 14th President of India!”
5:25 pm: Sharad Pawar said, “Hearty congratulations to the President-elect Shri Ram Nath Kovind. Best wishes for a successful tenure.”
5:13 pm: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar congratulated Kovind over phone.
5:12 pm: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari congratulated Kovind. He said, “I congratulate Ram Nath Kovind ji for his victory. It is a victory of the democracy.”
5:04 pm: I thank all who supported me from across country, I feel very emotional, I’ll represent all those struggling to make a living. I promise to serve the nation with all honesty, said Kovind
5:03 pm: I had never thought that I would be elected as the President but the love for my nation has brought me here: Ram Nath Kovind
#WATCH Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Union Min Ananth Kumar felicitate President Elect #RamNathKovind in Delhi pic.twitter.com/YonlhKPtuW
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 20, 2017
4: 57 pm: The battle against values and ideologies will continue. It has not concluded, said Meira Kumar
4:51 pm: Opposition’s Meira Kumar congratulated Ram Nath Kovind for becoming the President of India. She said, “I congratulate Sh. Ram Nath Kovindji for becoming the President of India. My best wishes with Sh. Kovindji as it has fallen upon him to uphold Constitution in letter & spirit in these challenging times. Want to thank all members of collegium, Smt Sonia Gandhiji & leaders of all the political parties who have supported me.”
4:50 pm: This is an emotional moment for me today, Kovind said.
4:49 pm: Ram Nath Kovind thanked and congratulated opposition candidate Meira Kumar.
4:46 pm: President elect Ram Nath Kovind addresses at his house in Delhi
Here is the state wise vote break-up
4:44 pm: Amit Shah also congratulated Ram Nath Kovind. He said, “Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind ji for emphatic victory in the 2017 Presidential elections. His victory is truly historic.”
4:30 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ram Nath Kovind. He said, “Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure. Gladdened by the extensive support for Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji among MPs & across various states. I thank members of the electoral college. I also congratulate Meira Kumar Ji for her campaign, which was in spirit of the democratic ethos & values we all are proud of.”
Read | Ram Nath Kovind elected as the 14th President of India: Here’s all you need to know about him
4:15 pm: And it’s official. Kovind will be the second Dalit President of the country after KR Narayanan.
4:05 pm: Kovind’s lead over Meira Kumar just keeps getting bigger and bigger. He has now received over 7 lakh votes while Kumar lags far behind with over 3.6 lakh votes.
3:55 pm: So we are inching closer and closer to the finish line as the last phase of counting is underway. Kovind has now crossed the half-way mark and is comfortably ahead of Meira Kumar to win the election.
3:50 pm: There are reports of cross-voting coming in from Gujarat although we cannot confirm anything at this point. Kovind may end up getting more votes from Gujarat than was expected due to cross-voting by Congress MLAs. Is Shankarsinh Vaghela becoming a factor?
Know Your President Shri Ram Nath Kovind. #NationHonoursDalits pic.twitter.com/9cqBzoKQiz
— BJP (@BJP4India) July 20, 2017
3:45 pm: People on Twitter have started sending their wishes to Kovind, the next President of the country. As many of you know, the contest had ended before it could even start. With non-NDA parties like the BJD, JD(U), AIADMK, TRS and YSRCP all pledging their support to Kovind, his win was a foregone conclusion. Even opposition leaders like Praful Patel of the NCP admitted that he will be the next President of the country without any serious challenge.
Read | How the legislatures voted
3:30 pm: Prayers are going on at several places for the victory of Ram Nath Kovind. Here are pictures from Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh.
Kanpur Dehat: People offer prayers for #RamNathKovind in anticipation of his win pic.twitter.com/FJPZ74Hpp6
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 20, 2017
2:36 pm: Ram Nath Kovind gets 1,389 votes with value of 479585; Meira Kumar gets 576 with value of 20,4594 after counting in Parliament House, 11 states.
2:14 pm: Ram Nath Kovind gets 60,683 votes, Meira Kumar gets 22,941 votes.
2:13 pm: Counting is over in four states.
2:11 pm: I am not upset, why should I be upset? I am a fighter, I fought for the belief and faith of majority of my countrymen and women: Meira Kumar
2:00 pm: The votes are being counted on four separate tables and there will be eight rounds of counting.
1:10 pm: People at village of NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind celebrate and offer prayers in anticipation of his win.
12:56 pm: 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.
12:40 pm: 71-year-old Ram Nath Kovind is a farmer’s son who has humble origins. 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.
Presidential election results LIVE updates: Visuals from inside Parliament. (Express Photo)
11:50 am: Presidential elections counting underway. More visuals from Parliament
Presidential election results LIVE updates: Counting is underway in Parliament. (Source: Express Photo)
11:32 am: Visuals from Parliament as counting is underway.
Presidential election results LIVE updates: Visual from inside Parliament as counting of ballots begins.
Presidential election results LIVE updates: Visual from inside Parliament.
11:28 pm: Meira Kumar on Presidential elections: Great belief in ideology I fought for, also believe in inner voice of conscience lets see how much it prevails.
11:21 pm: BSP supremo Mayawati on Presidential elections: “Winning or losing is a different issue. Whoever wins, the good thing is a Scheduled Caste person will be the country’s president. And I think it is a good thing for our movement, the party.”
11:16 am: Presidential election counting: First boxes from Parliament House followed by Andhra and Assam will be opened.
11:05 pm: Counting begins: Suresh Angadi, Ganesh Singh & Gajendra Shekhawat are counting agents of BJP.
11:00 am: Counting of Presidential elections: 4 tables 8 rounds counting.
10:40 am: Counting to begin in 3 minutes. Updates will be given every 2 hours. First update on counting at 1 pm.
10:20 am: Meanwhile, in Kolkata on Wednesday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had thanked all Opposition parties for coming together to support Meira Kumar.
10.05 am: Despite frequent disruptions on Day 3 of the Parliament Monsoon Session, the House debated on mob lynchings and agrarian crisis. We hope Day 4 will be more smooth with rains bringing down the temperatures in Delhi NCR.
Awaiting today’s hectic action! Counting of presidential poll to begin in PH at 11am @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/txwuoX1qCs
— Liz Mathew (@MathewLiz) July 20, 2017
9.56 am: No matter which way this election swings, India will have its second Dalit President after KR Narayanan. Before the voting, Opposition nominee Meira Kumar said this election was a battle of ideologies and not caste.
9:45 am: NCP leader Praful Patel said in New Delhi on Wednesday that Ram Nath Kovind will surely win and that there’s no rocket science. “All MPs don’t necessarily vote only according to conscience, they also vote according to party lines, and party lines are divided somewhat on ideology, principles and political positioning,” Patel had said.
9:24 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to vote on Monday morning. He had reached the Parliament House 10 minutes before voting started.
9:02 am: Anoop Mishra, Lok Sabha secretary general, had said on Wednesday that in a large number of states, including Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Puducherry, voting was 100 per cent.
8:42 am: There have also been speculations over cross-voting in the Presidential elections. Parties such as NCP have publicly denied any such rumours linked to the them. Party spokesperson Nawab Malik had said on Wednesday that rumours alleging that NCP MPs and MLAs are voting for the NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind are false, adding that they will be voting for Meira Kumar.
8:36 am: Support for Ram Nath Kovind also came from CPI(M)-ruled Tripura, six MLAs of Trinamool Congress and one Congress MLA as they defied their parties and voted in favour of NDA’s candidate. TMC had already sacked the six MLAs from their party.
8:25 am: It is likely that NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind could register an emphatic victory in the Presidential elections today, with over 7 lakh votes in his favour. This is owing largely to a larger support base and cross-voting from some sections.
8:10 am: A total of 4,896 voters — 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs — were eligible to cast their ballot for the Presidential elections. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college. While the value of an MLA’s vote depends on the population of the state he or she belongs to, the value of an MP’s vote remains the same at 708.
8:00 am: NDA’s nominee Ram Nath Kovind has number stacked in his favour over the opposition’s candidate Meira Kumar. Thirty two polling stations including the one in Parliament house, were set up in various states for the Presidential elections.
