15th President of India to be announced today

Agencies | New Delhi                                              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The counting of votes to elect the 15th President of India will begin at 11am IST on Thursday, at the Parliament House in New Delhi. The counting is set to take place in Room No 63, and the result will be declared immediately after the counting. The area surrounding this counting hall has been declared as a sanitised and "silent zone".

Only officials deployed to assist the Rajya Sabha Secretary General, counting officers, the candidates and an authorised representative for each one, selected observers appointed by the Election Commission, and media persons with valid passes will be allowed entry into the counting hall. Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody is the returning officer for the Presidential election.

The voting took place on Monday, July 18, and was completed in a peaceful manner. The voting ended at 5pm at the Parliament House, as well as at designated places in the capitals of all states, and the Union Territories of Puducherry and Delhi.

The contest is primarily between BJP-led NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu and the joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha. The NDA candidate is seen to have a clear edge in the contest.

Out of 736 electors— 727 MPs and nine MLAs— permitted by the Election Commission to vote at the Parliament house, 728 (719 MPs and nine MLAs) cast their votes. The total turnout at the Parliament House was 98.91 per cent.

Arrangements were made to bring back the polled ballot boxes from states to Parliament House by July 19.

Meanwhile, people belonging to Rairangpur, Odisha— the native place of NDA candidate Murmu, have already prepared sweets in anticipation of her victory against Yashwant Sinha, the opposition candidate.They also planned a victory procession and tribal dance on Thursday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also planned to begin celebrating in more than one lakh tribal villages, as soon as the results are announced, said sources on July 14. Office bearers and party workers have been given instructions, in this regard. The party also aims to celebrate in 15,000 Mandals, and to put up hoardings and posters of Droupadi Murmu in these tribal villages, in the event of her victory.