On Tuesday night, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) announced NDA’s presidential candidate in the face of Droupadi Murmu. JP Nadda, the president of The Bhartiya Janata Party had made the announcement after the completion parliamentary board meeting that was chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
JP Nadda, soon after the decision was made, said to the media, “For the first time, preference has been given to a woman tribal candidate. We announce Droupadi Murmu as NDA’s candidate for the upcoming Presidential elections.”
Droupadi Murmu, the tribal leader was the governor of Jharkhand from 2015-2021. If she is elected as the next President of India, history will be recorded – she will become the only tribal women to have gained a top constitutional post like India’s president ship.
Standing for NDA, Droupadi Murmu will contest the presidential polls against Yashwant Sinha, who is UPA’s presidential nominee. His candidature was announced by the Congress high command earlier on Tuesday.
Also Read: China under record flood level, southern provinces raise alert due to rising water level
The Presidential poll is scheduled to be held on 18th July, and the counting of votes will be conducted on July 21st. As per the guidelines, the last for issuing nomination is 29th June, and as the new President will be elected, he/she will have to swear and takeover office by 25th July – current President Ram Nath Kovind’s tenure will end on 24th July.
Reiterating more on the voting procedure, Rajiv Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner said, “A total of 4,809 electors to vote in the Presidential elections 2022. No political party can issue a whip to its members.”
For those who are not aware, the President of India is elected by an indirect voting process which is carried by an Electoral College. The Electoral College includes 776 members of the Parliament – both Lok and Rajya Sabh members – and these members form legislative assemblies where a total of 4,809 votes are casted.
The value of votes of all assemblies combined stands at 543,231, and the value of votes casted by MP is 543,200 that take the total value to 1,086,431. All the nominated members from both Lok and Rajya Sabha are not included in the Electoral College as they are not eligible, making them not entitled to vote in the electoral process.
