Voting to elect India's 14th President begins
Voting to choose the 14th President of India began at the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies at 10 am on Monday. A total of 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs cast their vote to choose between NDA's Ram Nath Kovind and Opposition's Meira Kumar. Votes will only be valid if cast using special violet ink pens provided by the Election Commission.
India?s elected MLAs and MPs voted to elect the next President and BJP-led NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind appears to have the advantage against his opponent Meira Kumar, a former Lok Sabha Speaker and the opposition?s nominee.Paper ballots were used in the presidential election. The electoral college of the presidential election comprises 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs with a total vote value of 10,98,903 -- 549,408 for 543 Lok Sabha and 233 Rajya Sabha parliamentarians, and 549,495 for 4,120 legislators in state assemblies. Read more: How India picks its President: Visually explainedThe halfway mark is expected to be 549,442, but that will depend on the number of valid votes.Kovind  is expected to win the polls, described by his rival, opposition candidate Meira Kumar, as a battle of ideologies. The result will be declared on July 20. President Pranab Mukherjee?s tenure ends on July 24.Here are live updates:5.30 pm: Voting for the presidential poll in Assam was completed more than three hours before the time limit.?The voting went very peacefully and there was no issue at all,? the principal secretary to Assam assembly Mrigendra Kumar Deka said.Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi and BPF member Kamal Shing Narzary are supposed to vote in Delhi, he said adding the rest 124 MLAs of the 126-member house cast their votes before noon itself.Voting to elect the 14th President of India saw a total of 234 ballots cast in Tamil Nadu. Aam Aadmi Party?s HS Phoolka was the only MLA in the 117-member Punjab assembly not to cast his vote4.50 pm: The voting for the presidential election ended in the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly premises today with 228 legislators casting their votes.4:30pm:?The 81 MLAs of Jharkhand Assembly cast their votes to elect the 14th president of the country on Monday.4:05pm:?We voted for  Meira Kumar in presidential poll to register our protest against ?present atrocities? in the country, says TMC supremo  Mamata Banerjee.3.30pm: Voting for the presidential election in Tamil Nadu got over in just about two hours with 232 legislators, Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan, and a Kerala MLA casting their votes at the Assembly.3.14pm: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said this is a vote against injustice. ?For sake of country we urge everyone to not support BJP and stand beside people.? It's vote against injustice. For sake of country we urge everyone to not support BJP & stand beside ppl: WB CM on #PresidentialElection pic.twitter.com/g1cwAhcUtQ? ANI (@ANI_news) July 17, 20173.12pm: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) dismisses reports that its lawmakers are voting for NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind. ?The rumours are false. We are voting for our candidate Meira Kumar,? NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik says.2.55pm: Himachal Pradesh records 100% polling with all 67 MLAs casting their vote.2.45pm: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar and senior Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal are among those who cast their votes for the presidential election.2.30pm: AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam says he hopes the issues plaguing Tamil Nadu be resolved after the presidential election.  2pm:  Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Telangana?s KC Rao cast their vote at the respective state assemblies in the presidential election.1.20pm: SP leader Shivpal Yadav says he cast his vote for Kovind and added: ?Kovind will win?.1.10pm: Senior NCP leader Praful says NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind will win the presidential election, ?there is no rocket science involved in this prediction?.1.04pm: 214 votes have been cast till noon at UP Vidhan Bhavan.1pm: Former minister and SP legislator Shivpal Yadav arrives at the Uttar Pradesh asembly to cast his vote. ?I will vote for Ramnath Kovind. And more and more SP voters should vote for Kovind,? he had said before leaving for casting his vote.Former minister and SP legislator Shivpal Yadav arrives at the UP assembly to cast his vote. 
							(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT?Photo)
						12.50pm: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik casts hhis vote in the presidential election at the state assembly in Bhubaneswar on Monday. Patnaik?s Biju Janata Dal had earlier announced its support to NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind.Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik casts his vote in the presidental election at the Assembly in Bhubaneswar on Monday.
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						12.38pm: NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind appears ahead of Opposition?s Meira Kumar in presidential election. Watch Hindustan Times? analysis on Facebook Live. 12.31pm: Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar says she is fighting the battle of ideologies. ?Had urged collegium to listen to voice of their conscience and decision will be taken in India?s favour.?12.30pm: Leader of SP legislature party, Ram Govind Chaudhary, said 29 party MLAs had cast their votes by 12.30pm. Fearing cross-voting, Chaudhary is holding meeting with loyal MLAs at the party legislature party office located in Vidhan Bhawan. 12.12pm: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, sacked AAP leader Kapil Mishra, Two of the three BJP MLAs -- OP?Sharma and Jagdish Pradhan ? and other Delhi legislators cast their votes at the assembly. (Live updates)11.55am: ?We are thankful to PM?Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah for giving UP the pride of giving the country its next president,? says UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.  Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath comes out of the UP assembly after casting his vote in the presidential election on Monday. 
							(Subhankar Chakraborty/HT?Photo)
						11.50am: Samajwadi Party legislator Shivpal Yadav says ?NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind is a known to me already. He is our neighbour and a Dalit.?11.40am: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi and party?s chief whip in Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia, cast their votes in the Parliament. 11.30am: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh casts his vote at the Parliament.Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh casts his vote at the Parliament on Monday.
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						11.22am: Meanwhile, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been adjourned till Tuesday after a short proceeding in the first day of monsoon session on Monday. 11.20am: The former Presidents of India and their winning margin..Headline_bar {font-family: "Open Sans";font-size: 100%;color: #FFF;background-color:#40a3d3;font-weight: bold;text-align: center;}.normal {font-family: "Open Sans";font-size: 100%;text-align: left;}.normal_centre {font-family: "Open Sans";font-size: 100%;text-align: center;}.source {width:auto; font-size:80%; color:#333; text-align:right; font-family:"Open Sans"}.wrap {width:100%; height:400px; float:left; padding:5px; border:1px dashed #999; margin-right:8px; overflow:scroll}.presidentelections1 {width:100%; font-family:"Open Sans"; font-weight:bold; margin:10px 0px 10px 0px; text-transform:uppercase; line-height:26px; font-size:120%; color:#F00; float:left}.presidentelections2 {width:100%; font-family:"Open Sans"; font-weight:normal; margin:10px 0px 10px 0px; line-height:26px; font-size:100%; color:#000; float:left}.clrboth {clear:both}@media only screen and (max-width:360px) {.wrap {width:auto; float:none; padding:5px; margin-right:0px}}1st Presidential poll (1952)Candidate NameVotes  Dr. Rajendra Prasad   507,400    K.T. Shah   92,827    Thatte Lakshman Ganesh   2,672    Chowdhry Hari Ram   1,954    Krishna Kumar Chatterjee   533  2nd Presidential poll (1957)Candidate NameVotes  Dr. Rajendra Prasad   459,698    Chowdhry Hari Ram   2,672    Nagendra Narayan Das   2,000  3rd Presidential poll (1962)Candidate NameVotes Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan   553,067   Chowdhry Hari Ram/t6,341     Yamuna Prasad Trisulia   3,537  4th Presidential poll (1962)Candidate NameVotes  Zakir Hussain   471,244    Kota Subbarao   363,971    Khubi Ram   1,369    Yamuna Prasad Trisulla   232    Bhamburkar Shriniwas Gopal   232    Brahma Deo   232    Krishna Kumar Chatterjee   125    Kumar Kamla Singh   125    Chandradutt Senani  0   U.P. Chugani   0    Dr. M.C. Davar   0    Chowdhry Hari Ram   0    Dr. Man Singh Ahluwalia   0    Manohara Holkar   0    Seetharamaiah Ramaswamy Sharma Hoysala   0    Satyabhakt   0  5th Presidential poll (1969)Candidate NameVotes  Varahagiri Venkata Giri (INDEPENDENT)   401,515 / 420,077    Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy (INDEPENDENT)   313,548 / 405,427    C.D. Deshmukh   112,769    Chandradatt Senani   5,814    Furcharan Kaur   940    Rajabhoj Pandurang Nathuji   831    Babu Lal Mag   576    Chowdhry Hari Ram   125    Sharma Manovihari Anirudh   125    Khubi Ram   94    Bhagmal   0    Krishna Kumar Chatterjee   0    Santosh Singh Kachhwaha   0    Dr. Ramdular Tripathi Chakor   0    Shri Ramanlal Prushottam Vyas   0  6th Presidential poll (1974)Candidate NameVotes  Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (INC)   754,113    Tridib Chaudhuri (INDEPENDENT)   189,196  7th Presidential poll (1977)Candidate NameVotes  Neelam Sanjiva Reddy  Won unopposed* *37 candidates filed nominations, 36 got rejected8th Presidential poll (1982)Candidate NamePartyVotes  Zail Singh   Indian National Congress   754,113    H.R. Khanna   Independent   282,685  9th Presidential poll (1987)Candidate NamePartyVotes  R. Venkataraman   Indian National Congress   740,148    V. R. Krishna Iyer   Independent   281,550    Mithilesh Kumar   Independent   2,223  10th Presidential poll (1992)Candidate NamePartyVotes  Shankar Dayal Sharma   Indian Nationlal Congress   675,864    G.G. Swell   Independent   346,485    Ram Jethmalani   Independent   2,704  11th Presidential poll (1997)Candidate NamePartyVotes  K.R. Narayanan   Indian National Congress   956,290    T.N. Seshan   Independent   50,631    Kaka Joginder Singh a.k.a. Dharti Pakad   Independent   1,135  12th Presidential poll (2002)Candidate NamePartyVotes  Abdul Kalam   Independent   922,884    Lakshmi Sahgal   CPI(M)   107,366  13th Presidential poll (2007)Candidate NamePartyVotes  Pratibha Patil   Indian National Congress   638,116    Bhairon Singh Shekhawat   Independent   331,306  14th Presidential poll (2012)Candidate NamePartyVotes  Pranabh Mukherjee   Indian National Congress/UPA   713,763    P.A.Sangma   Independent   315,987  11.15am: Former Lok Sabha speaker says Somnath Chatterjee said it appears that NDA candidate Kovind will win the presidential election. ?Happy that vast majority of votes from West Bengal will go to Meira Kumar,? he says.11.10am: In Madhya Pradesh, controversial Congress MLA Shakuntala Khatik, who got bail from Supreme Court in connection with a case of inciting violence during  Mandasur farmers? protest, casted her vote with along with her  party MLAs at the MP State Legislative Assembly.Congress MLAs going to cast their vote for presidential election in Bhopal. 
							(Mujeeb Faruqui/HT?Photo)
						11.02am:  In Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) is supporting NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind, while senior partner of the Grand Alliance RJD?is backing opposition candidate Meira Kumar.11am: As voting begins at the Bihar assembly, NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind enjoys an edge over UPA-backed Meira Kumar. 10.57am: Uttar Pradesh chief minister is confident of Kovind?s win after casting his vote: ?It is good fortune of UP that for the first time President will be from UP.?10.53am: Assam legislators, including chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, cast their votes in the presidential election. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal casts  his vote at the assembly in Guwahati. 
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						10.50am: Madhya Pradesh chief minister wishes NDA?candidate Ram Nath Kovind.All the best to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji for the #PresidentialElection. Am confident you will receive huge support & emerge victorious.? ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) July 17, 201710.48am: BJP MP and Union minister Uma Bharti voted in UP Vidhan Bhavan. ?Who will win is clear. We only have to see how big will be the victory margin,? says Uma Bharti.10.44am: In Tamil Nadu, DMK working president MK Stalin casts his vote in the presidential election.10.41am: Jailed MLAs Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam will be brought to Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from prison for voting.10.30am: BSP?MLA Lalji Verma  said all the 19 legislators from his party will vote for Meira Kumar.10.28am: BSP president Mayawati said: ?No matter who wins, President will be from Scheduled Caste. Huge victory for our movement and party.?10.25am: On Samajwadi Party legislator?s Shivpal Yadav?s open support for NDA presidential candidate Kovind, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kesav Prasad Maurya said, ?He is most welcome?.10.20am: MLAs queue up at Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly to cast their votes in the presidential election.10.15am: PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah cast their votes at the Parliament.Delhi: PM Narendra Modi & BJP President Amit Shah cast their votes at the Parliament for #PresidentialPoll2017 pic.twitter.com/UXk1Xz7Wou? ANI (@ANI_news) July 17, 201710.10am: Voting begins at the UP Assembly in Lucknow amidst heightened security following discovery of PETN (explosive) in Vidhan Sabha on July 12.10.09am: MPs begin to cast vote in the presidential election in the Parliament.10.08am: PM Modi says ?Growing Stronger Together? is the other name for GST. ?GST shows the good that can be achieved when all parties come together and work for the nation,? PM?tweeted. 10.07am: BJP president Amit Shah, a legislator from Gujarat, arrives at the Parliament to vote in the presidential election. 10.05am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks ahead of monsoon session. ?This monsoon session is special because we have got an opportunity to elect the next President and vice-president,? says the PM. 9.57am: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will be among the first lawmakers to vote at the UP assembly in Lucknow.9.50am: Preparations are underway at Karnataka Legislative Assembly in Bengaluru ahead of the presidential election.Bengaluru: Preparations underway at Karnataka Legislative Assembly ahead of the #PresidentialElection pic.twitter.com/HsMv3y3qTN? ANI (@ANI_news) July 17, 20179.40am: Union minister Venkaiah Naidu said NDA presidential candidate ?Ram Nath Kovind ji will win with a comfortable and respectable margin?. 9.33am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to cast their votes at 10 am in the Parliament, news agency ANI tweeted.9.20am: BSP chief Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav (though he himself is not a voter as he is an MLC) are supporting Meira Kumar while the Mulayam-Shivpal faction is extending support to Kovind.9.15am: Uttar Pradesh has a total of 403 MLAs. Of these, BJP and allies include 325 legislators, SP 47, BSP 19, Congress 7, RLD 1 and NISHAD 1. There are three independent MLAs.9am: Of the total value of 10,96,004 votes, the opposition is eyeing around 400,000 and also is hopeful of cross-voting in the absence of a party whip. The opposition parties are taking all steps to ensure there lawmakers don?t vote for Kovind.8.53am: BJP supporters perform ?hawan? at Varanasi for NDA?s presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind?s victory. Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh): BJP supporters perform 'hawan' for NDA's presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind's victory #PresidentialPoll2017 pic.twitter.com/LxySX4cHmK? ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 17, 20178.45am: Rehearsal has begun for the swearing-in ceremony of the new President at Delhi?s Vijay Chowk.8.34am: Leaders of opposition parties to meet at 10am in the Parliament: ANI8.25am: How opposition parties standApart from the JD(U), the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the YSR Congress Party, both factions of the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal have extended support to Kovind.With the Samajwadi Party still a divided house, its two factions are likely to vote for two different candidates during the presidential election.8.20am: Here?s what Congress president Sonia Gandhi saidA day before the presidential election, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi described on Sunday the contest as a fight against a ?narrow-minded, divisive and communal vision?.Addressing opposition leaders in the presence of their presidential and vice presidential nominees --- Meira Kumar and Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the Congress president told participants to ?fight the battle and fight hard? despite the ruling dispensation seemingly having a numerical advantage.8.15am: PM Modi Congratulates Kovind ?in advance?Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind ?in advance? and assured him of his government?s support, a day before the election to the top constitutional post.Modi termed the ?lack of bitterness? in the poll campaign as a sign of maturity in the Indian democracy.