Presidential Election Results 2022 LIVE Updates: 126 MLAs across 18 states and 17 MPs cross-voted for Murmu

Of all the qualities of head and heart that paved the path for Droupadi Murmu’s ascent to the country’s highest office, spirituality has been her closest ally, strengthening her fortitude in the face of back-to-back personal tragedies. The President-elect found her spiritual moorings in the Brahma Kumaris, a school of thought that apparently shone a light on her as she battled the trauma of losing her two sons and husband in the span of a few years.

Droupadi Murmu didn’t start out in life aspiring to be a trailblazing tribal icon in public life. All she wanted to do was get an education and teach. In her long, arduous journey from a remote village of Odisha’s Mayurbhanj to the highest office in the country, Murmu’s commitment to education has been the one constant of her career.

President-elect Droupadi Murmu on Thursday reciprocated West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s congratulatory message after her win, referring to her as Didi and saying, “Thank you @MamataOfficial Didi for your lovely wishes and kind words. I am always looking forward to protect the ideals of our Constitution and mother India.”

Votes cast by 53 members of the electoral college for presidential election 2022 — comprising 15 MPs and 38 MLAs — were invalidated during counting on Thursday, down from 77 votes found invalid in the 2017 presidential poll. While 15 of the total 763 MP votes cast on July 18 were invalidated, 38 of the total 3,991 MLA votes cast too met the same fate. As many as five MLA votes each were invalidated in MP and Punjab; four each in Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal and NCT of Delhi; three in UP; two in Bihar; and one each in Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Puducherry.

The final tally shows that as many as 126 MLAs spread across 18 states and 17 MPs defied diktats of their respective parties to vote for her, something which appears significant because of the polarised political milieu and opposition’s attempt to turn the Presidential contest into a battle of ideologies.

Home minister Amit Shah, congratulating President-elect Droupadi Murmu on her emphatic win, said the NDA nominee garnered support from across parties as large-scale cross-voting took place in her favour. Over 126 MLAs and 17 MPs from opposition parties voted in the NDA nominee’s favour.

NDA’s presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu on Thursday became the first tribal woman to be elected as President of India by defeating her rival, opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, by a margin of 947 votes, bagging 64.03% of the electoral college votes against Sinha’s share of 35.97%.

President Ram Nath Kovind, who rose from being a grassroots level politician to becoming the country's first citizen, has long been an advocate of egalitarianism and integrity in the society.

A sizeable number of MLAs from across state assemblies cross-voted in support of President-elect Droupadi Murmu, defying their parties' stated support to opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, sources said on Thursday.

Waving tricolours and jubilating to the sound of 'dhol-nagadas', a large number of BJP supporters flooded the streets in the heart of Delhi, as the NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu on Thursday emerged victorious in the keenly-watched poll over her rival Yashwant Sinha. An 'Abhinandan Yatra' was taken out from its Delhi unit office at 14, Pant Marg, as scores of men and women from the party cadres marched to the Rajpath, with some chanting slogans and raising placards bearing images of Murmu and the Rashtrapati Bhavan.