Droupadi Murmu Is The 15th President Of India, Second Woman And First Tribal Person To Hold The Position
The counting of ballots for India’s 15th President began today at 11 a.m. in Delhi’s Parliament House. The voting took place on July 18 in Parliament House and throughout all state assemblies, with 99% of the 4,796 MPs and MLAs voting. Droupadi Murmu of the NDA is up against Yashwant Sinha of the Opposition. And now the president has been elected and it is Droupadi Murmu. She will be the second female and the first tribal to hold this position!
Droupadi won 540 votes from MPs in the first round of voting, whereas Yashwant Sinha received only 208 votes out of a total of 776. The total number of valid votes is 5,23,600. Droupadi Murmu led with a large margin of 1,349 votes after the second round, while Yashwant Sinha trailed with only 543. At the completion of the third round of counting, Murmu has reached 50% of the total valid votes cast; however, the final tally is still pending.
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Murmu is the country’s first tribal woman to hold the highest constitutional position. Murmu’s hometown Rairangpur has prepared 20,000 ladoos for distribution, and hoardings have been up celebrating “Odisha’s daughter” as they voiced confidence in her victory and prepared for festivities. Various local organisations, including trade organisations, bar associations, religious and educational organizations, and even government officials, are eager to celebrate the “daughter of the soil.” Meanwhile, security has been ramped up in Murmu’s village in anticipation of big crowds later in the day. A resident said that over ten quintals of ladoos have been produced to commemorate the triumph which will be distributed outside Murmu’s residence.
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Ram Nath Kovind’s term ends on July 24, and the new president takes office on July 25. The ballots were counted in Room 63, Parliament’s strong room, where the ballot boxes were secured by round-the-clock security. On July 18, polling stations for the presidential election were open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 31 locations, along with the Parliament House and 30 centres inside state legislative assembly. Eight MPs which includes BJP MPs Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dhotre, did not vote owing to medical concerns.
