New Delhi: Ram Nath Kovind+ , former Bihar governor and old BJP hand, will be sworn in as India’s 14th President+ on July 25. The NDA candidate Kovind defeated the Opposition’s nominee and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar by garnering over 65% of votes+ in the electoral college. Chief Minister Mehooba Mufti and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh have congratulated the President Elect Ram Nath Kovind on his election as President of India
The final tally of the votes, counting of which was done at Parliament House on Thursday, shows that Kovind got 2,930 votes (MPs and MLAs) with a value of 7,02,044 (65.65%) as compared to 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314 (34.35%) received by Meira Kumar, defeating her with a margin of over 3.30 lakh vote value.
The results show that the polling in Presidential election, held on Monday, was marked by cross-voting in various states, including Gujarat, Delhi, Goa and Maharashtra, where opposition members favoured Kovind. Out of 57 Congress MLAs in Gujarat, the opposition candidate Meira Kumar got only 49 votes. Similarly, out of 16 Cong MLAs in Goa, Kumar got 11 votes. While three Congress MLAs cross voted, votes of two were declared invalid.
As per the Opposition’s strength, Meira Kumar should have got 90 votes in Maharashtra. But she got only 77, showing cross voting by 13 MLAs in favour of Kovind. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are among other states that witnessed cross-voting in favour of Kovind.
The BJP candidate received two additional votes in Delhi while as many as six were declared invalid. There are only two parties in the Delhi assembly — BJP and AAP. As the final figures came in, BJP gained two votes in Jammu & Kashmir, four in Haryana, 11 in UP, four in Himachal Pradesh, five in West Bengal, eight in Karnataka, 13 in Maharashtra, six in Madhya Pradesh and two in Chhattisgarh.
While the BJP succeeded in pulling in votes from the opposition camp in these states as well as in Parliament, Congress claimed it had managed to secure votes from the BJP camp in Rajasthan.
Among the MPs, 522 had voted in favour of Kovind as against 225 to Meira Kumar. Though there are 776 elected MPs (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), 768 had voted. Votes of 21 MPs were, however, declared invalid as they didn’t cast their votes properly in terms of marking their preferences on the ballot paper.
The 71-year-old Kovind will be only the second Dalit President of India after KR Narayanan. He will also be the first BJP leader to be elected to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Soon after he was handed his election certificate by returning officer and Lok Sabha secretary general Anoop Mishra, Kovind in his first post-victory comments+ to media asserted that protecting the Constitution and maintaining its dignity would be his duty and concluded his remarks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s favourite Sanskrit shloka “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niramaya” (May all be happy, may none fall ill).
Modi, on his part, while congratulating Kovind, tweeted about his long association with the President-elect and posted his old picture with him on his timeline, saying “20 years ago and the present…always been a privilege to know you, President Elect”.
The Prime Minister also tweeted about Meira Kumar, saying “I also congratulate Meira Kumar Ji for her campaign, which was in spirit of the democratic ethos & values we all are proud of”.
The electoral college to elect the President comprises of elected MPs and MLAs of all states and two UTs – Delhi and Puducherry. A total of 4,896 voters — 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs — were eligible to cast their ballot. However, 4,851 voters — 4,083 MLAs and 768 MPs – among them had voted
esides votes of 21 MPs, votes of 56 MLAs from different states, including the maximum 10 from West Bengal, were also declared invalid for the same reason.
While the value of an MLA’s vote depends on the population of his or her state, the value of an MP’s vote remains the same at 708. Accordingly, the value of an MLA’s vote in Sikkim is seven (lowest) while it is 208 (highest) in Uttar Pradesh.
Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh have congratulated President elect, Ram Nath Kovind on his becoming the 14th President of India.
In her congratulatory message to Kovind, the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said his victory marks an important milestone in the political history of the country. She said the election of Kovind reflects the empowerment of underprivileged, backward, minorities and other weaker sections of the society.Mehbooba hoped the tenure of Kovind would prove to be inspiring, encouraging and egalitarian.
Congratulating the President elect Ram Nath Kovind Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh while highlighting the achievements of the new president said his experience in varied fields of life would immensely contribute to making India one of the most developed nations of the world. He said the majority of the law makers of the country have reposed their faith in him which speaks volumes about his contribution.
