Indian Presidential Election 2022 News Live Updates: The voting process for India's next President, a tough contest between the National Democratic Alliance's Droupadi Murmu and Opposition's Yashwant Sinha, concluded on Monday, 18 July, with ballots being cast by MPs in the Parliament House in Delhi and by MLAs and chief ministers in state assemblies across the country.
Speaking to the the media, PC Mody, Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, said that 99.18% MPs cast their vote on Monday.
"736 electors, including 727 members of Parliament and nine legislative assembly members were permitted by the Election Commission to vote, out of which 730 cast their votes," he said.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former PM Manmohan Singh, and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi cast their votes at the Parliament House in Delhi, several chief ministers including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Delhi CM Arvind Keriwal, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel cast their votes at their respective state assemblies.
The Monsoon Session of the Parliament too commenced on Monday morning to a chaotic start with both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha getting adjourned around mid-day due to protests and sloganeering by the Opposition MPs over price rise and inflation.
Here are a few glimpses of the voting process through the day:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts his vote for the election of the President, at Parliament House in New Delhi, Monday, July 18, 2022.
(Photo: PTI)
Several newly elected MPs to the Rajya Sabha including P Chidambaram, Randeep Surjewala, Sanjay Raut, Harbhajan Singh, and Rajeev Shukla took oath with VP Venkaiah Naidu in the chair
PM Modi said that the country will get the guidance of a new president and vice president as India completes 75 years of Independence
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs cast their votes to elect the 15th president of India, with Murmu having a clear edge over Sinha as over 60 percent of the votes are expected to be cast in her favour
Polling took place in Parliament and state legislative assemblies till 5 pm
The counting of votes will be held in the Parliament House on 21 July and the next president will take oath on 25 July
President Ram Nath Kovind's five-year term coming to an end on 24 July
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)
12 States See 100% Turnout
100% voting by MLAs was reported from the states of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Puducherry, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.
All 230 MLAs in Madhya Pradesh Cast Vote
All the 230 MLAs in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, including Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, on Monday cast their votes to elect the next President.
“All 230 members of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly voted for the presidential polls by 3.30 PM," an official said.
283 Maharashtra MLAs Take Part in Voting
As many as 283 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Maharashtra took part in voting for the Presidential poll that concluded here on Monday, said an official.
The state assembly has 288 seats and its current strength is 287, of which 283 MLAs cast their votes to elect the 15th President, said the Vidhan Bhavan official.
BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap, who is unwell, Shiv Sena legislator Mahendra Dalvi, a member of the rebel camp led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and jailed NCP lawmakers Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh did not vote, he said.