The battle begins: Polling to elect the next President underway

New Delhi: Polling to elect the country's 14th President began on Monday morning with the beginning of the monsoon session of the Parliament Lawmakers across India voted on Monday to elect the country's 14th President with Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu declaring that ruling NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind would win with a "comfortable and respectable margin" against opposition-backed Meira Kumar.

All elected MPs and member of Legislative Assemblies are eligible casted their votes to elect the successor of Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office on July 25.

The contest is between National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee Ram Nath Kovind and candidate of several major opposition parties Meira Kumar, who was former Lok Sabha Speaker.

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While one of the candidates Meira Kumar had described the contest as 'Battle of Ideologies', the election is largely being viewed as a clash between two Dalit leaders.

Meanwhile, the confident Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already congratulated the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind, early in the morning.

The Prime Minister, while interacting with the media before the session began said, “Today the Monsoon Session begins. Like the Monsoon brings hope, this session also brings same spirit of hope."

He also stated, “This session gives the country an opportunity to elect the president and the vice president.”

Playing his abbreviation card, the PM also stated that he hopes the decision will be taken in the spirit of GST-- Growing Stronger Together.

Highlights:

• 776 MPs and 4120 MLAs will decide the candidates' fate in a secret ballot vote.
• The battle is between NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind and opposition candidate Meira Kumar.
• Kovind has a 70 per cent of the electoral college backing him.
• There is, however, a possibility of cross voting.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with BJP President Amit Shah have casted their votes at the Parliament at 1000 hours.