New Delhi - Counting of votes for the presidential poll began here Sunday with the ruling UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee holding a clear winning edge over his rival P.A. Sangma.
Officials opened the ballot boxes in Room 63 of Parliament House with representatives from both candidates present.
The first wooden box that was opened contained the votes of MPs cast in Delhi Thursday when the election took place.
Congress leaders including Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla were in the room.
About 95 percent of the 4,896 electorate exercised their franchise to elect India's 13th president at polling centres set up at Parliament House and 30 other state and union territories.
Mukherjee is expected to bag 735,000 votes.
The president is elected by an electoral college of MPs and members of state assemblies.
All MPs except those nominated to parliament are eligible to vote. There are 776 MPs, and each MP's vote equals 708 votes.
There were 4,120 assembly members eligible to vote. The value of a legislator's vote is variable depending on the population of the state the member represents.
Besides the support of the UPA led by the Congress, Mukherjee also enjoyed the backing of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-Secular.
Constituents of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Janata Dal-United and Shiv Sena also extended their support to the former finance minister besides the CPI-M and Forward Bloc.
Sangma, a member of the Meghalaya assembly, is supported by the BJP, Akali Dal, Asom Gana Parishad, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal.
The CPI, Telugu Desam Party and Telangana Rashtriya Samiti abstained from voting.
| Other Articles: |
 |
Of Indian women changing with globalisation and time (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
We will celebrate on July 25: Pranab's daughter (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Rahul Gandhi must stick to his policy pillars (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Punjab objects to centre's move on water (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
My father will give new dimension to office of president: Pranab's daughter (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Presidential poll counting to begin at 11 a.m. (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Speeding truck mows down 15 in Uttar Pradesh (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Muggy Sunday morning in Delhi, rains likely (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
One injured as Garo rebels fire in Meghalaya town market (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Water on Delhi Metro tracks causes hold-up (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Doctors stole my minor son's kidney, says Rajasthan man (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Cop, engineers, accountant caught taking bribes (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Rajasthan youth refuses to marry minor, moves court (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Tension defused; Delhi mosque site handed over to ASI (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Ally trouble continues to dog Congress (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Five killed in Chhattisgarh power plant accident (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Three Tamil Nadu teachers held for beating student (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Delhi doctor's body found hanging in house (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Nine killed in communal clashes in Assam's Kokrajhar (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Maruti violence may be planned: cops (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Abhishek Verma fails to appear in court (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Issues with NCP will be resolved soon: Aiyar (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
NCP unhappy in Maharashtra also (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Cloudy day in Delhi, rains expected Sunday (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Kejriwal is BJP agent, says Digvijay Singh (22nd Jul, 2012) |
|
Jobs |
Blog |
Yellow Pages |
Games |
Jokes |
Chat |
e-Cards |
Astrology |
Articles |
Recipes |
Send Gifts
Today : Monday - May 20, 2013, 07:26pm (GMT+5.5)
