NEW DELHI: The voting to elect India’s next President began at 10 am on Monday. The polling takes place at room number 36 on the first floor of the parliament building. Voting is simultaneously taking place at various state assemblies. Veteran leader Yashwant Sinha is the opposition’s candidate. NDA’s Draupadi Murmu has ensured victory with more than 60 per cent of the total votes. However, the opposition parties believe that Yashwant Sinha can offer a good fight. Out of the total 10,86,431 votes, Murmu has ensured more than 6.6 lakh votes. Whereas, Yashwant Sinha has ensured about 4.19 lakh votes. 94 people had filed nominations for the polls. The counting of votes will take place on July 21.

Draupadi Murmu is expected to get 6,60,000 votes with the support of Congress allies namely Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Shiv Sena along with Om Prakash Raj Bhar's Suhal Dev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which had been allied with the Samajwadi Party in the opposition, and Akhilesh Yadav's uncle Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party.

Meanwhile, opposition’s candidate Yashwant Sinha, contesting with the backing of 38 parties, no longer possess the support he had during the announcement of his candidacy. However, Aam Aadmi Party’s support came in as a relief in the last hours. With the lack of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s support and Mamata Banerjee clarifying that there is no need to come to Bengal for election campaigning, the current move is only to get maximum votes possible. Yashwant Sinha had to cancel his visit to Chhattisgarh, Bengal and Maharashtra as well.

One vote for Murmu in Kerala Assembly

In today's presidential election, one vote cast in the Kerala Assembly will go to NDA’s candidate Draupadi Murmu. Uttar Pradesh's NDA MLA Neel Ratan Singh will cast the vote for Draupadi Murmu here. He had arrived in Palakkad for treatment purposes. In the presidential polls, one can cast their votes anywhere in the country with prior permission. Neel Ratan Singh’s vote will not be included in the Kerala count, but will be counted in the Uttar Pradesh count. Tirunelveli MP and DMK member Gnanathiraviam will also cast his vote in the Kerala Assembly. He is undergoing treatment in Thiruvananthapuram. The DMK has declared support to Yashwant Sinha.

All 140 legislators of Kerala will cast their votes here on Monday. As the Congress and the Left have extended their support to opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, he is likely to get the entire votes in Kerala. Although, H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal supports Draupadi Murmu, the Janata Dal members in Kerala, namely Minister K Krishnankutty and party state president Mathew T Thomas, are expected to vote for the opposition candidate. Both of them are members of the Left front here. The polling will be held from 10 am to 5 pm in room number 740 at the third floor of the assembly Building.