Eligible MPs and MLAs from all places India Presidential elections will be held on July 18 to choose the successor of Ram Nath Kovind for the country’s highest constitutional post. Counting of votes will take place on July 21 and the new President will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan till July 25.
Sharad Pawar and Nitish Kumar While he has pulled himself out of the controversy, speculations are also rife about Arif Mohammad Khan and Venkaiah Naidu. Extensive deliberations are underway in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance to reach a consensus on a candidate. For the opposition, especially the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, it will be a test of unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The numbers, at present, are in favor of the NDA, which is also relying on the support of parties like AIADMK and YSRCP.
Due to absence of assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, the value of vote of an MP has come down from 708 to 700 this time. The value of an MP’s vote in the presidential election is based on the number of members elected in the Legislative Assemblies of states and union territories, including Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.
As action is underway to elect India’s 15th President, News18 takes a look at the widest and closest vote gap in past presidential elections:
wide win margin
1957: Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, was in the fray for a second term. Against him were Chaudhary Hari Ram and Nagendra Narayan Das. The incumbent President got 4,59,698 votes, while Das and Ram combined failed to get more than 5,000 votes.
1962: Dr S Radhakrishnan, Choudhary Hari Ram and Yamuna Prasad Trisulia were in contention to replace Rajendra Prasad. Dr. Radhakrishnan got 5,53,067 votes, while the other two candidates got only 10,000 votes between them.
1977: This may not technically count as an election, but was certainly the most unanimous. After the sudden death of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in February 1977, a total of 37 candidates filed nominations in the presidential election. On enquiry, the Returning Officer rejected 36 of them, as a result of which Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was elected unopposed.
1997: KR Narayanan was against TN Seshan to become the 11th President of India and got 9,56,290 votes as against 50,631 votes for Seshan.
2002: India’s Missile Man Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was the most favorite in the elections. He got 9,22,884 votes as against 1,07,366 for Lakshmi Sehgal.
close calls
1967: Of the 17 candidates in the fray, nine got zero votes. Zakir Hussain emerged victorious with 4,71,244 votes, while his nearest rival Kota Subbarao got 3,63,971 votes.
1969: Elections were necessitated by the death of the outgoing Dr Zakir Hussain in May 1969, after which Vice President VV Giri became the acting President. He resigned from both the posts to contest the presidential election.
Hectic political developments ahead of the elections led to a historic split in the Congress as Indira Gandhi was reluctant to support Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who was the choice of the Syndicate faction. The election came down to Giri, who was backed by Gandhi v. Reddy. Giri eventually won the election with 4,20,277 votes, while Reddy received 4,05,427 votes.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news watch top videos And live TV Here.