The voting to elect India’s next President concluded peacefully with a total turnout of 98.90 per cent at Parliament on Monday, said chief returning officer PC Mody.
The ballot boxes for the presidential election 2022, in which NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu is pitted against joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, will arrive in Parliament from across the country by the end of the day, Mody said, adding that the boxes will reach Delhi via road and air, and assistant returning officers will accompany them.
“Out of 736 electors (727 MPs and nine MLAs) permitted by the Election Commissioner of India to vote in Parliament, 730 (721 MPs and nine MLAs) voted,” Mody said.
According to media reports, six MPs, including BJP’s Sunny Deol, didn’t cast their vote in the presidential poll.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to cast his vote as the voting began at 10 am at the Parliament House and the state legislative assemblies, with MPs and MLAs casting their votes to elect the 15th President of India. The voting process concluded at 5 pm. The counting of votes will take place on July 21.
Besides Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi cast their votes at the parliament house.
Ahead of the commencement of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, Modi on Monday urged all members of Parliament to make the session fruitful and productive by holding discussions and debates with an open mind.
“There should be dialogue in the Parliament with an open mind, if necessary, there should be a debate. I urge all MPs to contemplate deeply and discuss matters to make this session as fruitful and productive as possible,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament.
