Presidential Election today: NDA's Droupadi Murmu has edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha

File image of Draupadi Murmu (Image: PTI)

Voting to choose the 15^th President of India began in Parliament House and state assemblies today.

The contest is between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu and the Opposition’s pick, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.

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— ANI (@ANI) July 18, 2022

The President is elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of states and the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

READ | Explained: How is the President of India elected?

As many as 4,800 elected members of parliament (MPs) and members of state legislative assemblies (MLAs) will vote today to elect the new President. The counting will take place on July 21. The term of President Ram Nath Kovind ends on July 24 and an election for the next president has to be held before that day.

The contest, though, is seen as all but over, since more parties have already declared support for Murmu, who, if elected, would be India’s first tribal woman to become President.

The polling in the Parliament is being held on the first day of Monsoon session.

Murmu, 64 has been assured support from non-NDA parties such Jharkhand's ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Odisha's Naveen Patnaik and Shiv Sena. As things stand, Murmu, with support from NDA and many non-NDA parties is all set to win the race.

Also, read | Monsoon Session begins today: Here's a list of key bills likely to be tabled in Parliament

With the support of regional parties such as YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, TDP, JD(S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Murmu's vote share is likely to reach nearly two-thirds.

The NDA nominee now has over 6.67 lakh votes out of a total of 10,86,431 votes in the Electoral College.

Opposition parties picked up 84-year-old Sinha - a former Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government who later joined Trinamool Congress - after three proposed candidates, National Congress chief Sharad Pawar, former Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, declined.