Ram Nath Kovind was on Thursday declared elected as India’s 14th President polling 65.6% of the vote defeating the Opposition’s joint candidate, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who secured 34% of the vote.

Mr. Kovind will be the second Dalit President of India after late President K.R. Narayanan but, more significantly, the first from politically significant Uttar Pradesh and the first person from the BJP to hold the office of President since Independence.

Speaking to the press after returning officer for the poll, Anoop Mishra, declared him elected, Mr. Kovind said it was an “emotional moment” for him.

“I never dreamed of this position nor was it a goal. My election to this post is a message to all those who discharge their duties with honesty and integrity,” he said, promising to uphold the Constitution of India and follow the policy of Sarve Bhavantu Sukheenaha or peace and prosperity to all.

Also Read Ram Nath Kovind’s long journey to Raisina Hill

The voting for the poll had been held on Monday, and counting began in Parliament House on Thursday morning continuing up to early evening.

The total number of MPs and MLAs who cast their votes was 4851, bearing a combined value of 1090300. However, with 77 votes being declared invalid — 21 from Parliament alone — the total number of valid votes was 4774, bearing a combined value of 1069358. Mr. Kovind polled 2930 of these votes — bearing a value of 702044 — and Ms. Kumar 1844 votes — with a value of 367314.

Highest vote value

The value of each vote of an MP was 708. Among the States, each vote in Uttar Pradesh had the highest value of 208, while each vote from Sikkim had the lowest value of seven. Mr. Kovind got the highest number of votes – 335 – from U.P. and the lowest – just 1 – from Kerala.

Ms. Kumar secured the highest number of votes – 273 – from West Bengal and drew a blank in Andhra Pradesh.

The polling was marked by cross-voting in various States where many Opposition members favoured Mr. Kovind.

According to figures available, cross-voting took place in Gujarat, Tripura, Goa, Delhi and Maharashtra in favour of Mr. Kovind. As many as 11 Congress MLAs appeared to have voted for Mr. Kovind in Gujarat, a State which is to go for Assembly polls at the end of the year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first to wish the President-elect, tweeting out pictures taken 20 years ago at a wedding in Mr. Kovind’s family and a more recent one with Mr. Kovind and his family at the prime ministerial residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Mr. Modi also praised Ms. Kumar for her campaign which was in the “spirit of democratic ethos, and values” which “we are all very proud of.”</s>The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind won the presidential election, reports said on Thursday. He took a massive lead over the Opposition’s nominee Meira Kumar during counting, and won with over 65% of the votes.

Kovind got 7,02,644 electoral college votes, while Kumar received 3,67,314, reports said. As many as 522 MPs voted for Kovind, while 225 voted for Kumar.

A total of 4,896 elected representatives voted in the election on Monday.</s>New Delhi: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Ram Nath Kovind was on Thursday elected as the new President of India, securing a massive margin over his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rival Meira Kumar in a straight fight.

In an electoral college of 4,986 voters with a vote value of 10,98,903, Kovind got 2,930 votes carrying a value of 7,00,244, while the former Lok Sabha Speaker secured 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314.

While Kovind got 65.65 percent of the total valid vote value of 10,69,358, Meira Kumar got 34.35 percent.

Ram Nath Kovind vs Meira Kumar: Here is how states voted in Presidential Election 2017

However, following are the states where Kumar trounced Kovind:</s>Presidential Election 2017 counting: Ram Nath Kovind has emerged as the leader after receiving 1,389 votes with the value of 479585 after the first round counting whereas Meira Kumar received gets 576 with the value of 20,4594 after counting in Parliament House, 11 states. A total of 4,896 voters — 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs — were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with the legislative council are not part of the electoral college. Kovind won 171 votes in Madhya Pradesh while Meira Kumar only got 57 votes. Coming to the north in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Ram Nath Kovind received 56 and 73 votes respectively. The opposition candidate Kumar, on the other hand, got 13 and 16 votes respectively. The two fought neck to neck in Chattisgarh with Kovind receiving 57 votes whereas Kumar managed 35. Kumar was no competition to Kovind in Gujarat with the latter receiving 132 votes to 49 by the Kumar.

Kumar told the reporters in Delhi that she had a great belief in the ideology she had fought for. She said,“(I) appealed to the members (of the electoral college) to listen to their inner voice of conscience. Let’s see how much it prevails.” Ever since she has been named as the presidential poll nominee by opposition parties, Kumar has urged the members of the electoral college to vote according to their “voice of conscience” and for an “ideology that binds India”. She added,”I am a fighter, I fought for the belief and faith of the majority of my countrymen and women.”

A formal announcement of the winner is expected by 5 pm. The voting took place on Monday. The Presidential election on July 17 saw close to 100 percent polling. A total of 771 members of Parliament and 4,109 legislators were eligible to cast votes.</s>New Delhi: The counting for the presidential election held on Monday is in progress on Thursday and the name of the next occupant of the Rashtrapati Bhawan is expected to be known by 5pm. There will be eight rounds of counting with updates after every round.

National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) candidate and former Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind has a clear edge with 70% of the electoral college votes over rival candidate and former Speaker Meira Kumar, who has been supported by the Congress and other opposition parties. Kumar has described her candidature as the “battle of ideology”.

Here are the latest updates and developments as the counting of votes for the election of 14th President of India begins:

■ A candidate needs more than 50% of votes to win the poll. The total strength of the electoral college is 10,98,903 votes. In the last Presidential polls in 2012, outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee defeated rival P.A. Sangma. Mukherjee secured 69% of votes.

■ Lok Sabha secretary general Anoop Mishra is supervising the counting as he is also the returning officer.

■ The ballot box of Parliament House is the first to be opened, and then, the ballot boxes received from states would be counted on alphabetical basis. The votes would be counted on four separate tables and there would be eight rounds of counting.

Close to 99% voting was recorded on Monday for electing India’s next president. Thirty two polling stations, including the one in Parliament house, were set up in various states.

A total of 4,896 voters—4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs—were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college.

While the value of an MLA’s vote depends on the population of the state he or she belongs to, the value of an MP’s vote remains the same at 708.</s>NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind is expected to win the presidential election 2017 (Reuters)</s>New Delhi: Ram Nath Kovind, the ruling NDA coalition’s candidate, may have won the presidential election comfortably, but his vote share is the lowest since 1974, figures reveal.

Kovind polled 7,02,044 votes out of 10,90,300 in the Electoral College, while his rival Meira Kumar, the joint opposition candidate, secured 3,67,314 votes. This comes to a vote share of 65.65% for the president-elect.

However, the victory margin is the lowest since the 1974 presidential poll. According to Election Commission data, Kovind’s immediate predecessor Pranab Mukherjee (2012) secured 69.31% votes while Pratibha Patil (2007) got 65.82% of the total votes, marginally higher than the share secured by Kovid.

In the 2012 polls, out of 10,29,750 votes, Mukherjee bagged 7,13,763 votes, while in 2007, Patil bagged 6,38,116 of the total 9,69,422 votes polled. K.R. Narayanan (1997) and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (2002) bagged 94.97% and 89.57% respectively, the highest victory percentages since 1974.

Only Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, in 1977, was elected unopposed to the top constitutional post. Gyani Zail Singh (1982) got 72.73% votes, while R. Venkatraman (1987) bagged 72.28%. Shankar Dayal Sharma (1992) got 65.87%.

Besides Narayanan, only two presidents—Rajendra Prasad (98.99%) in 1957, and Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan (98.24%) in 1962—secured over 90% of the votes. In the first presidential election, Prasad bagged 83.81 votes.

New President Ram Nath Kovind is a stickler for the rule book

The lowest margin of victory for any presidential poll was during the 1969 election when then president V.V. Girri secured just 48%of the total votes. The low percentage is often attributed to a so-called ‘syndicate’ within the Congress. Fifteen candidates were the in the fray in this poll, the highest in any presidential election. Girri’s predecessor Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed bagged 56.23%votes in 1967.</s>President-elect Ram Nath Kovind got the maximum number of votes from Uttar Pradesh while TMC- ruled West Bengal offered him the rawest deal among big states en route to his victory over Meira Kumar in the presidential poll. According to the data provided by the returning officer for the election, in which Kovind garnered 2,930 or 65.35 per cent of the total 4,774 valid votes (of 10,69,358 value) polled, shows the two contenders scored overwhelmingly over each other in some states. Kumar gained a total of 1,844 (having value of 3,67,314) or 34.35 per cent of votes in the election. The former Lok Sabha speaker drew a blank in once-a- Congress bastion Andhra Pradesh, while in Left-ruled Kerala Kovind got just one vote.

In Nagaland, Kovind received 56 votes as against one to Kumar. The result was lopsided in Kovind’s favour in Sikkim, too. He garnered 28 votes vis-à-vis one of Kumar. In the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest value of votes for the election, Kovind received 335 votes (having value 69,680) against Kumar’s 65 (valuing 13,520). Kovind bagged all the 171 valid votes (of 27,189 value) polled in the TDP-BJP combine ruled Andhra Pradesh. In Maharashtra, which carries second highest value of votes at 50,225, Kovind got 208 of the total 285 valid votes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat also gave fillip to Kovind, who won 132 votes (valuing 19404), restricting Kumar at 49. Bihar, where the ruling JD(U) supported Kovind by breaking ranks with its grand alliance partners, the RJD and the Congress during the election, also proffered the NDA nominee edge over Kumar. Of the total 239 valid votes polled there, Kovind gained 130, whereas Kumar scored 109 votes.

The bright spot for Kumar in this election was her scores in West Bengal and Kerala. In West Bengal, she bagged 273 of the total valid 284 votes against Kovind’s meagre 11. The Left Front-ruled Kerala offered her 138 of the total 139 votes. In another Left-ruled state, Tripura too, she did well to garner 53 votes against Kovind’s seven. In AAP-ruled Delhi, she received 55 of the total 61 valid votes, while remaining votes went Kovind’s way.</s>NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind became the 14th President of India yesterday, with a hefty amount of votes in his favour. The election was held on Monday as a one way contest between Ram Nath Kovind and Meira Kumar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Kovind on Twitter, saying, “Gladdened by the extensive support for Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji among MPs & across various states. I thank members of the electoral college.”

“I neither thought I would be elected to this post, nor was this my aim. But my everlasting spirit to serve the society and my country has brought me here,” Kovind said in his acceptance speech after the win.

The swearing in ceremony will be taking place on 25th July. –News Source</s>Ram Nath Kovind will be the 14th President of the country following in the footsteps of incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee. Kovind (71), who was nominated by the BJP-led NDA, won the Presidential contest after beating Meira Kumar, the Opposition candidate, garnering two-thirds of the total votes cast.

At the end of counting on Thursday, Kovind had received over 7 lakh votes indicating about 65 per cent of the votes cast while Kumar lagged far behind with just 3.6 lakh votes. Kovind, a BJP leader who has served as a Rajya Sabha MP and later was appointed the Governor of Bihar, will be the second Dalit President of the country after KR Narayanan. He is also the first BJP leader to be elected to the highest office of the land.

“This is an emotional moment for me today,” said Kovind in his first remarks to the press at his official residence. “This responsibility being given to me is a message to every person in the country who fulfils his responsibilities with honesty.”

Kumar, in her remarks to reporters, also congratulated Kovind for the victory. At the same time, she said the battle of ideologies will continue.

Kovind’s victory was a foregone conclusion due to the NDA’s numerical strength in Parliament and the backing of non-NDA parties like the BJD, JD(U), TRS and AIADMK. However, Kumar, the former Lok Sabha Speaker, exhorted members of Parliament and state assemblies to vote with their conscience.

Kovind’s victory has come amid reports of cross-voting in several states such as Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Jharkhand. While the NDA candidate got the votes of 522 MPs of Parliament, Kumar was able to get only 225 MPs to vote for her. In NDA-ruled states like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat and Jharkhand, Kovind was able to beat Kumar convincingly. In states like West Bengal (TMC-ruled), Karnataka (Cong-ruled) and Punjab (Cong-ruled), Kumar was able to get more votes than Kovind.

Also read: All you need to know about Ram Nath Kovind

A total of 4,896 voters — 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs– were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college. While the value of an MLA’s vote depends on the population of his or her state, the value of an MP’s vote remains the same at 708.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App
Ram Nath Kovind has won the Indian presidential election after securing over two-thirds of the total electoral college votes.