The Indian Parliament voted this Monday, July 18 for the election of the country’s new president, who will succeed Ram Nath Kovind. Declared the favourite, ruling party candidate Droupadi Murmu is strongly opposed to Yashwant Sinha, a former minister who is backed by the opposition party.
Members of both Parliamentary Councils were summoned to the polls. This Monday, these elected officials vote to determine the identity of India’s next president, ahead of a week’s official announcement of the results.
How will voting take place?
For this election, nearly 5,000 elected officials from both houses of Parliament, as well as from the country’s regional legislative assemblies, met on Monday to select India’s new president.
The voting system is simple: the weight of each vote is weighted according to the size of the constituency and candidates are sorted by preference.
If no candidate receives more than 50% support, identical to an outright win, the candidate with the lowest score is eliminated and the vote is “carried over” until the candidate wins by an absolute majority.
Elected for 5 years, the President of India holds executive powers and can send back to Parliament certain bills that require reconsideration. It also plays a role in forming the government.
Who’s favorite?
Nominated as a candidate by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Droupadi Murmu, of the Santhal tribe, is the favorite in the presidential election.
Aged 64, the latter started his career as a teacher in the eastern state of Odisha before entering politics. He has held ministerial positions in the state government and served as governor of the eastern state of Jharkhand.
He “has dedicated his life to serving society and empowering the poor, oppressed and marginalized,” Modi wrote on Twitter after his candidacy was announced. If successful, she will become the first Indian president of a tribe and the second woman to hold that position in India.
His main opponent is Yashwant Sinha, an 84-year-old former BJP member and former finance and foreign minister who is backed by opposition parties, including Congress. “This year’s presidential election is not a contest between two individuals but between two ideologies. Only one party wants to protect the provisions and values enshrined in our Constitution,” Yashwant Sinha said on Twitter.
