ANI-
Counting of votes for India’s recently-held 15th Presidential election will begin at 11 am on Thursday with the results of the contest between BJP-led NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu and joint Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha to be declared the same day.
The counting will take place in Room No 63 in Parliament House and the result will be declared soon after the counting concludes. The immediate precincts of Room Number 63 have been “sanitised” and declared a “silent zone”, authorities said.
Only counting officers, officials deployed to assist the Rajya Sabha Secretary General, candidates and one authorized representative of each candidate, observers appointed by the Election Commission and media persons with valid passes will be allowed entry into the counting hall.
Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody is the returning officer for the Presidential election.
Out of 736 electors comprising 727 MPs and nine MLAs permitted by the Election Commission to vote at the Parliament house, 728 (719 MPs and nine MLAs) cast their votes. The total turnout at Parliament House was 98.91 per cent.
The voting took place on July 18 and was completed in a peaceful manner.
BJP and NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu is seen to have a clear edge in the contest with several political parties extending their support to her.
The voting ended at 5 pm Monday at Parliament House and at designated places in the capitals of all states besides the UTs of Puducherry and Delhi.
Arrangements were made to bring back the polled ballot boxes from states to Parliament House by July 19.
Meanwhile, people belonging to Murmu’s village Rairangpur in Odisha state, have prepared sweets anticipating her victory in the contest against Yashwant Sinha, the Opposition candidate. Her fellow villagers have also planned a victory procession and tribal dance on Thursday.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also planned to begin celebrating in more than one hundred thousand tribal villages as soon as the results are announced, sources said.
Results for India’s Presidential election to be declared on Thursday
