2017 Indian presidential election

A presidential election was held in India on 17 July 2017 with the votes counted and the results announced on 20 July 2017. Ram Nath Kovind became 14th President of India. President Pranab Mukherjee, whose term of office was due to expire on 24 July 2017,[2] declined to seek re-election due to health concerns and old age.

2017 Indian presidential election
17 July 2017
Turnout99% (estimated)[1]
 
Nominee Ram Nath Kovind Meira Kumar
Party BJP INC
Alliance NDA UPA
Home state Uttar Pradesh Bihar
Electoral vote 702,044 367,314
States carried 21 10
Percentage 65.65% 34.35%
President before election

Pranab Mukherjee
INC

 President-elect

Ram Nath Kovind
BJP

Governor of Bihar Ram Nath Kovind of the Bharatiya Janata Party had the backing of the governing National Democratic Alliance coalition, and went up against opposition candidate Meira Kumar of the Indian National Congress in the vote. Kovind secured roughly two-thirds of the votes from the electoral college of elected members of federal, state and union territory legislatures and was elected to a five-year term as President.[3] Kovind's term of office began on 25 July 2017.

Background

There was initial speculation that the incumbent, Pranab Mukherjee, would seek re-election. However, he decided not to run again in 2017, meaning that his term in office ended on 24 July 2017.[4]

Selection process
Further information: President of India § Selection process, and Electoral College (India)

The President of India is indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses of parliament, the elected members of the Legislative assemblies of the 28 states and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.[5] As of 2017, the electoral college comprises 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs. The system assigns varying numbers of votes to these electoral college members, such that the total weight of MPs and those of MLAs is roughly equal and that the voting power of states and territories are proportional to their population. Overall the members of the electoral college were eligible to cast 1,098,903 votes, yielding a threshold for a majority of 549,452 votes.[6]

The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the President must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. The election is held by means of a secret ballot under the single transferable vote system. The manner of election of President is provided by Article 55 of the Constitution.[7][8]

The returning officer for the election was Anoop Mishra, the Secretary General of Lok Sabha.[9]

Electoral college partisan composition

At the time of the election the NDA coalition itself was short of a majority by about 25,000 votes, but was expected to be able to rely on other parties to breach the small deficit without difficulty.[6]

  • Source: "राष्ट्रपति चुनाव 2017: यूपी और उत्तराखंड की जीत से एनडीए का पलड़ा भारी". hindi.firstpost.com.
Party/Alliance Party composition Lok Sabha votes Rajya Sabha votes State Assemblies votes Total votes Percentage
NDA BJP, SHS, TDP, LJSP, SAD, RLSP, AD, GFP, MGP,[10] AINRC, JKPDP, NPF, NPP, PMK, SDF, SWP 237,888 49,560 239,923 527,371 48.10%
Other parties AIADMK,[11] YSRCP, JD(U), BJD,[12] TRS,[13] INLD, IND 50,268 20,532 63,107 133,907 12.20%
Government total (including non-NDA parties' support) 661,278 60.30%
UPA INC, IUML, RSP, KC (M), DMK 34,692 46,020 93,137 173,849 15.90%
Other parties AITC, CPI(M), NCP, SP, BSP, AAP, RJD, AIUDF, JD(S), JMM, AIMIM, CPI, JKNC 60,180 47,436 152,776 260,392 23.80%
Opposition total 434,241 39.70%

Public opinion

Although the election was not a popular vote, some general polling was performed to measure public opinion. In both Business Insider-Ipsos and NDTV polls comparing support of the two candidates, Kovind was the more popular choice with 71%[14] and 63%[15] support respectively.

Candidates

Two candidates were nominated. Both the governing NDA coalition and the opposition UPA coalition put forward candidates from their dominant parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress respectively.

Bharatiya Janata Party
Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party
Name Born Current or previous positions State Announced Ref

Ram Nath Kovind		 (1945-10-01) 1 October 1945
Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh		 35th Governor of Bihar (2015–2017)

Member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh (1994–2006)

Uttar Pradesh

 19 June 2017 [16][17][18]

Indian National Congress
Main article: Indian National Congress
Name Born Current or previous positions State Announced Ref

Meira Kumar		 (1945-03-31) 31 March 1945
Patna, Bihar		 15th Speaker of the Lok Sabha (2009–2014)
Union Minister of Water Resources (2009)
Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment (2004–2009)
Member of the Indian Parliament for Sasaram (2004–2014)
Member of the Indian Parliament for Karol Bagh (1996–1999)
Member of the Indian Parliament for Bijnor (1985–1989)
Bihar		 22 June 2017 [19][20][21]

Results

Ram Nath Kovind was declared as the President-elect after the counting of votes which was held on 20 July 2017.[22] He was administered oath by the Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar, to take office as the 14th President of India on 25 July 2017 at the Central Hall located in The Parliament House, New Delhi.[23]

Results of the 2017 Indian presidential election[24]
CandidateIndividual votesElectoral College votes%
Ram Nath Kovind2,930702,044
65.65%
Meira Kumar1,844367,314
34.35%
Invalid[25]7720,942

Reactions

Immediately after the results were announced, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted,

"Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure."

In another tweet he added

"Gladdened by the extensive support for Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji among MPs & across various parties. I thank the members of the electoral college."

See also

References
  1. Prabhu, Sunil; Varma, Shylaja. "Presidential Election Sees Nearly 99% Voting, ram math kovind Set For Easy Win: 10 Points". NDTV. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  2. "Election Commission issues notification for President's election". The Hindu. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  3. Hebbar, Nistula (21 July 2017). "Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th President of India". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  4. "Not in race for another term: President Mukherjee". The News Minute. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  5. "Election of The President". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  6. Phukan, Sandeep (13 March 2017). "How BJP's UP Win Will Impact Presidential Election. Numbers Explained". NDTV. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  7. Pratiyogita Darpan. Upkar Prakashan. p. 167. ISBN 9788174828156. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  8. "Election to the Office of President of India: Frequently Asked Questions" (PDF). eci.nic.in. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  9. Mishra, Anoop (14 June 2017). "Public Notice issued by Returning Officer for Election to the Office of President of India". Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  10. "Goa Forward joins NDA". The Goan EveryDay. The Goan. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  11. Vaidyanathan, A (17 June 2017). "For Presidential Election, Tamil Nadu's Ruling AIADMK Allies With BJP". NDTV. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  12. "BJD supports NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind in Presidential polls". The Indian Express. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  13. "Telangana CM K.C. Rao extends support to NDA's Presidential candidate | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". DNA India. Diligent Media Corporation. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  14. Tanya Dubey (18 July 2017). "71% Indians want Ram Nath Kovind to be the next president, according to this Ipsos Poll". Business Insider. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  15. Abhishek Chakraborty (17 July 2017). "Presidential Election 2017 Highlights: Ram Nath Kovind vs Meira Kumar; Voting Ends". NDTV. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  16. "President's post above politics, says Kovind". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  17. "Raj Bhavan for man who shunned TV". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  18. "Prez polls: BJP picks Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind". OnManorama. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  19. Manoj C G; Ghosh, Abanitka; Mishra, Anand (23 June 2017). "Presidential Polls: Meira Kumar will challenge Ram Nath Kovind, BSP and SP go with Opposition choice". The Indian Express. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  20. "Meira Kumar is Oppn's pick to fight Kovind in presidential election". Hindustan Times. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  21. "India opposition nominates Meira Kumar as presidential candidate". The Daily Star. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  22. "With 65% votes, Ram Nath Kovind is the next President of India". Rediff News. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  23. Agarwal, Nikhil (20 July 2017). "Ram Nath Kovind elected Indias 14th President, to take oath on July 25". India Today. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  24. "Live: Ram Nath Kovind is 14th President of India, to take oath on July 25". Hindustan Times. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  25. "Ram Nath Kovind elected as the 14th President of India". The News Minute. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
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