Next President of India: With 70 per cent votes, Kovind heads for big win

Ram Nath Kovind is set to become the next President of India. With 70 per cent of the votes in the electoral college with him, it appears that Kovind is set to trounce his opponent, Meira Kumar.

A total of 95 candidates filed nominations for the top Constitutional post, of which 93 were rejected on various grounds, leaving only Kovind and Opposition candidate Meira Kumar in the fray. While Kumar has support of 17 opposition parties, Kovind is set to get nearly 70 per cent of the electoral college votes.

Sonia Gandhi, the Congress president said at a meet that the numbers may be against the Opposition but the battle must be fought hard.

The voting will begin at 10 am and conclude by 5 pm. Counting will be held on July 20 at 11 am.

Follow the live updates here:

09:53 am: Preparations underway at Karnataka Legislative Assembly ahead of the Presidential Election

09:38 am: Ram Nath Kovind ji will win with a comfortable & respectable margin, says Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Presidential Poll 2017.

09:32 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to cast their votes at 10 am in the Parliament

08:55 am: Rehearsal by the President's Bodyguard for the swearing-in ceremony of the new President at Delhi's Vijay Chowk

08:51 am: BJP supporters perform 'hawan' for NDA's presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind's victory in Varanasi

08:32 am: Opposition leaders are set to meet at 10 am today in the Parliament before voting for the next President of India.

Few interesting facts:

• The electoral College which elects the president constitutes 4,896 legislators.
• Of the 4,896 legislators, 776 are Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members and 4,120 MLAs.
• All MPs have an equal vote value of 708.
• The vote value of MLAs depends on the population of the state.
• The presidential polls has a total of 11,04,546 votes.

OneIndia News