Presidential Polls 2022 Live Updates: Droupadi Murmu and Yashwant Sinha. (Photo: PTI/File)Presidential Election Live updates: With the tenure of Ram Nath Kovind coming to an end on July 24, around 4,800 MPs and MLAs will vote to elect the 15th President of India on Monday. The polling will take place between 10 am and 5 pm in Parliament House and state legislative assemblies. Counting of votes will take place on July 21 while the next President will take oath on July 25.
With the support of BJD, YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JD(S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and now JMM, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Droupadi Murmu has a clear edge over Opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be polled in her favour. If elected, she will become the first woman from the tribal community to hold the country’s top constitutional post.
Before naming Sinha, a former Union minister during Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the opposition camp had approached former Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah to take part in the presidential battle. In the 2017 election, Ram Nath Kovind became the President after defeating joint opposition candidate Meira Kumar. Kovind polled 7,02,000 votes compared with Kumar’s 3,67,000, out of a total of 10,69,358 votes.
The next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be announced on July 21. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
November 2016 marked a tumultuous period in Jharkhand. The Raghubar Das-led BJP government had passed amendments to two centuries-old land laws — the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Acts — that would have ensured easy transfer of land for industrial use. As the amendments led to massive protests by tribal communities across the state and with close to 200 delegations calling on then Governor Droupadi Murmu, eight months later, in June 2017, she returned the laws asking the government to clarify how the amendments would benefit tribals. Read Sunday Profile
A day before going to polls, Opposition candidate for Presidential post Yashwant Sinha appealed to all the MPs and MLAs to listen to their "conscience" and vote for him.
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