Election commission India It was announced on Thursday that the 16th Presidential Election 2022 will be held on July 18 and the counting of votes will be held in Delhi on July 21. The new president will take oath on July 25. At a press conference in New Delhi, the Election Commission announced that the nominations for the presidential election will be filed on June 29 and will be scrutinized on June 30.
The term of President Ram Nath Kovind is set to end on July 24 and according to Article 62 of the Constitution, the election of the next President must take place before the completion of the term of the incumbent.
“The election shall be by means of single transferable vote with proportional representation system and voting shall be by secret ballot. The elector has to mark the preferences against the names of the candidates, only with a special pen, provided by the designated officer, CEC Rajiv Kumar said in the press meet.
The poll watchdog said nominations would be filed from 11 am to 3 pm. Issuing guidelines for the voting process, the Election Commission said that a pen will be given by the poll panel for casting vote and no other pen will be accepted. Elections will be held in the Legislative Assemblies and Parliament House, where MPs and MLAs can cast their vote anywhere by giving prior permission of 10 days.
The Election Commission further said that the COVID-19 protocol will have to be strictly followed during the entire election process.
“The counting of votes will take place under the supervision of the Returning Officer in New Delhi. On completion of the counting of votes, the Return of Election will be issued by the Returning Officer,” the CEC said. He said that no whip would be allowed by any political party for the elections.
According to the Election Commission, the total number of voters is 4,809, which includes 776 MPs and 4,033 MLAs.
Presidential elections in 2017 were held on 17 July, while the winner was announced three days later on 20 July. The President in India is elected by the members of the electoral college consisting of elected members of both the houses – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
electoral college for the presidential election
The electoral college for the Presidential election includes 776 MPs from the Lok Sabha (543) and Rajya Sabha (233) as well as legislators from the state legislatures and the union territories of Delhi and Puducherry. The total votes are counted on the basis of their value, which varies from state to state, with an MLA from Uttar Pradesh having the highest value, followed by Maharashtra and West Bengal.
The recent assembly elections, in which the BJP performed brilliantly in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, have consolidated the BJP’s lead in the presidential elections. However, the past of ally JD(U) remains a matter of concern for the saffron party.
Adding to the JD(U)’s record of going against ‘alliance dharma’, the souring between the two NDA allies could have an impact on the upcoming presidential election. The Nitish Kumar-led party went against its alliance partners in the 2012 and 2017 presidential elections.
The JD(U) was part of the NDA during the 2012 presidential election. The NDA had supported the candidature of PA Sangma while the UPA had nominated Pranab Mukherjee. Going against the NDA, the JD(U) voted in favor of Mukherjee, who won the election.
In the 2017 presidential election, the JD(U) was part of the UPA, which fielded former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as its candidate. On the other hand, the NDA candidate was President Ram Nath Kovind, who was the then Governor of Bihar. In a surprise move, the JD(U) went with the NDA and voted for Kovind, praising his tenure as the state’s governor.
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