April 14, 2026 11:50 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
'ECI deviated from Bihar procedure': Supreme Court raises concerns over voter deletion in Bengal SIR | Noida workers’ protest turns violent: Stones pelted, vehicles damaged over wage hike demand | Oil prices jump above $103 a barrel as US moves to block Iran-linked shipping | I don’t care if they come back or not, says Trump after Iran talks collapse | Legendary singer Asha Bhosle suffers cardiac arrest, hospitalised | Big boost to India–Mauritius ties: S. Jaishankar hands over 90 e-buses | Middle East tension: Iranian delegation arrives in Islamabad for major talks, 10,000 security personnel deployed | Ranveer Singh visits RSS HQ amid Dhurandhar 2 success, triggers speculation | ED raids ex-Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee; SSC scam resurfaces ahead of polls | Amit Shah promises UCC, ₹3,000 aid per month for women and youth in BJP’s Bengal manifesto

Presidential polls: Meira Kumar or Ram Nath Kovind? Lawmakers to decide fate today

| | Jul 17, 2017, at 03:58 pm
New Delhi, Jul 17 (IBNS): As polling starts from 10 am on Monday, 776 MPs and 4120 MLAs will cast their vote in a secret ballot to choose India's next President.

According to experts, BJP-backed candidate Ram Nath Kovind is likely to sweep the poll with a 70 percent majority.

The former Bihar Governor, who also enjoys the backing of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is contesting the poll against Meira Kumar, former and the first female Lok Shabha speaker.

Kumar, who on Sunday visited the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to seek his support, has termed the election as an "ideological battle".

Throwing her weight behind Kumar, Congress matron Sonia Gandhi urged lawmakers to vote wisely, describing it as "a clash of ideas and a conflict of disparate values."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to not waste their vote.

He said, "Every party has respected the dignity of the election. This is the maturity of our democracy. Now, we have to make sure no vote goes to waste."

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.