KOLKATA: The Presidential election 2017 in India began on Monday (July 17). The result of the polls will be announced on July 20.

The elected representatives of the Parliament and various state assemblies will vote to elect India’s next President.

The voting began at 10:00 am and it will continue till 5:00 pm. The counting of votes will begin at 11:00 am on July 20.

The electoral college for choosing the President consists of 4,896 voters. The Lok Sabha has 543 voters and the Rajya Sabha 233, while the overwhelming majority 4,120 votes come from state assemblies- MLAs. The total value of votes in the election is 10, 98,903. 5,49,408 for MPs and 5,49,495 for MLAs.

There are two candidates in the fray for the coveted post- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Ram Nath Kovind and Indian National Congress (INC)-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Meira Kumar.

Ram Nath Kovind, former Governor of Bihar and a leader of the BJP, filed his nomination for the election on June 23.

Meira Kumar, the former Speaker of Lok Sabha, is opposition’s candidate for the post of President of India.

Ram Nath Kovind and Meira Kumar came from the Dalit community.

President Pranab Mukherjee’s term will expire on July 24. The new President will take charge on July 25.

BDST: 1206 HRS, JULY 17, 2017
EHJ