Before the Murmu-Sinha Race, This Is How Presidential Poll Margins Looked

Here's a look at some of the slimmest and widest victory margins in India's presidential races of the past.

A look at some of the slimmest and widest victory margins in presidential races in the past.

(Photo: Samarth Grover/The Quint)

The counting of votes in the presidential election ended on the evening of Thursday, 21 July, with the National Democratic Alliance's Droupadi Murmu defeating the Opposition's joint candidate Yashwant Sinha by a margin of 2,96,626 votes.

While President-Elect Murmu secured 2,824 first preference votes, valued at 6,76,803, Sinha secured 1,877 first preference votes, valued at 3,80,177.

The president is elected by an electoral college, which comprises elected members of all state legislative Assemblies (including Puducherry and Delhi) as well as the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

The 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha are not allowed to vote.

In essence, 4,120 members of legislative Assemblies and 776 members of Parliament elect the president through a system of proportional representation.

This means that the value of an MLA’s vote varies from state to state, in order to reflect the population of the region.

Here's a look at some of the slimmest and widest victory margins in presidential races that have taken place in the past.

1952 & 1957: Rajendra Prasad

Rajendra Prasad, India’s first president and the only one to serve two full terms in the top constitutional post, attained a landslide victory against Chowdhry Hari Ram and Nagendra Narayan Das, polling votes valued at 4,59,698, while Das and Ram failed to surpass even 5,000 vote value combined in 1957.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

In 1952, he won his first election with a vote value of 5,07,400 against his nearest rival, KT Shah, who received votes valuing at 92,827.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

Prasad (98.99 percent) was among the three, including Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan in 1962 and K R Narayanan in 1997, who became the president with a vote share of over 90 percent.

1962: Dr S Radhakrishnan

In 1962, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Chowdhry Hari Ram, and Yamuna Prasad Trisulia contested the presidential election to succeed Rajendra Prasad.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

Dr Radhakrishnan won the presidency by an overwhelming margin, receiving votes valuing at 553,067, while his rivals Chowdhry Hari Ram and Yamuna Prasad Trisulia garnered a vote value of 6,341 and 3,537, respectively.

1967: Dr Zakir Hussain

In a contest between 17 candidates for the presidency in 1967, nine candidates polled zero votes.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

Dr Zakir Hussain emerged victorious with a total value of 4,71,244 votes, while his nearest rival Kota Subbarao, dwarfed by his numbers, garnered votes valuing at 3,63,971.

1969: VV Giri

After the sudden demise of Dr Zakir Hussain, the Election Commission of India announced an indirect presidential election.

With a value of 4,20,077 votes, Varahagiri Venkata Giri won against his rival Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy by a margin of nearly 15,000 votes. Reddy received votes valuing at 4,05,427 in the run-off election.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

1974: Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

In the 1974 elections, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed from Assam eclipsed all his other contenders after receiving a value of 7,65,587 votes. His nearest rival, Tridib Chaudhuri, only got votes totalling a value of 1,89,196.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

1977: Sanjeeva Reddy

Reddy was elected unopposed in 1977, after the poll was necessitated following Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed's unforeseen death. A total of 37 candidates filed their nominations; however, the returning officer rejected the nominations of 36 prospective candidates.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

1982: Zail Singh

India's eighth presidential election was held on 12 July, 1982.

Zail Singh, the only Sikh president of the country till date, with a value of 7,54,113 votes, won over his nearest rival Hans Raj Khanna who got a value of 2,82,685 votes.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

1987: R Venkataraman

The ninth presidential poll saw R Venkataraman emerge victorious with a huge margin, as he received votes valuing at 7,40,148, while his nearest contender, VR Krishna Iyer managed to garner a value of 2,81,550 votes.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

1992: Shankar Dayal Sharma

Congress-backed Shankar Dayal Sharma became the 10th president of India with votes valued at 6,75,864, while his nearest rival, George Gilbert Swell, garnered a value of 3,46,485 votes.

Ram Jethmalani and Kaka Joginder Singh did not cross a value of 4,000 cumulatively.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

1997: KR Narayanan

KR Narayanan, India's first Dalit president, won by a landslide against TN Seshan, getting 9,56,290 value in votes, compared to the value of 50,631 votes received by the latter.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

2002: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

The 2002 election was a contest between Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who was backed both by the BJP and Congress, and Lakshmi Sehgal, who was supported by the Left front.

Kalam won by a huge margin, getting a value of 9,22,884 votes against Sehgal, who received votes valuing at 1,07,366.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

2007: Pratibha Patil

Congress-backed Pratibha Patil became the 12th and the only female president of India, after she defeated her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by a margin of votes valuing at 3,00,000.

Patil got a value of 6,38,116 votes, while Shekhawat managed to receive votes valuing at 3,31,306.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

2012: Pranab Mukherjee

The two leading candidates for the 13th president of India in 2012 were former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma.

Mukherjee gained votes valuing at 7,13,763, to win the election, defeating Sangma with a wide margin of over 5,00,00 vote values. Sangma received votes valued at 3,15,987. Mukherjee's win was aided by cross-voting.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

2017: Ram Nath Kovind

The NDA’s Ram Nath Kovind defeated the Opposition’s candidate Meira Kumar, to officially become the 14th president of India.

In an electoral college of 4,986 voters, with a vote value of 10,98,903, Kovind obtained a vote value of 7,00,244, while the former Lok Sabha speaker secured a vote value of 3,67,314.

Even though Kovind won the presidential election comfortably, his vote share (65.65 percent) was the lowest recorded in a presidential poll since 1974.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)