Much on the expected lines, NDA’s presidential pick Ram Nath Kovind won easily against opposition candidate Meira Kumar during the counting of votes in Parliament.
Kovind won at least 66 percent votes in the 17 July presidential election. India’s 14th President Ram Nath Kovind, once sworn-in on 25 July, will be the second Dalit President of India after KR Narayanan.
Kovind, former Governor of Bihar won the presidential contest against Meira Kumar on Thursday evening with 65.6 per cent translating into 702,044 electoral College votes.
Some of the significant points you need to know are here:
Counting of votes started at 11 am in Room Number 62 on the first floor of the Parliament House with the opening of first ballot box of Parliament House. Ballot boxes received from different states are counted in an alphabetical order.
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In the eight rounds of counting, Kovind received 65.6 per cent votes translating into 702,044 Electoral College votes, while UPA candidate Meira Kumar managed to get 34.35 per cent (367,314 votes). The victory of Kovind was already expected by everyone.
Soon after Kovind emerged victorious, many leaders tweeted to congratulate him on the victory. One of the first being Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Congratulations to Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji on being elected the President of India! Best wishes for a fruitful & inspiring tenure.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2017
Flowers and sweets arrived from his home town.
Ram Nath Kovind said after winning the contest “I thank all who supported me from across the country, I feel very emotional, I’ll represent all struggling to make a living. I promise to serve the nation with all honesty.”
