Ahead of the Presidential Elections that are scheduled to take place in July, Chief Election Commissioner, Naseem Zaidi, addressed a press conference on the upcoming elections today. According to Election Commission of India, the Presidential Polls in July will be followed by elections for the post of Vice-President in the same month.
EC said that the Presidential Elections will be conducted via secret ballot. Polling will be conducted on July 15th whereas the counting will be conducted on July 20th.
“ECI is taking all necessary steps to ensure free and fair elections to the office of President of India”.
Showcasing the rules of electing the President, Zaidi further said that the term of President Pranab Mukherjee will end on 24 July.
“It is also clarified that political parties cannot issue any whip to any MPs and MLAs in the voting for the Presidential Elections,” he added.
The elections are expected to be a contest between the ruling BJP-led NDA and the Opposition led by Congress, although neither have announced their candidates. Among some prominent names doing the rounds are Gopal Krishan Gandhi, Sharad Yadav and Sharad Pawar, besides Meira Kumar. Sharad Pawar has, however, announced that he will not be contesting the elections.
