The process for electing India's 13th President will be set in motion formally on Wednesday, when the Election Commission issues a notification, paving the way for filing of nominations for the 17 July contest, in which the ruling NDA seems to have an edge.
The last date for filing of nominations is 28 June. Scrutiny will follow on 29 June, and the last date for withdrawal is 1 July. The vote count will be on 20 July, four days before incumbent Pranab Mukherjee's term ends. The new President is set to take charge the next day.
The value of each vote of an MP is 708, but this differs for MLAs from state to state. The value of an MLA's vote in Uttar Pradesh is the highest (208) and the least (7) in Sikkim.
The NDA is short of the halfway mark by about 18,000 votes. But it expects to gain the support of many smaller parties besides all the factions of the feuding AIADMK, which alone has a vote value of over 26,000.
In 2012, Mukherjee, the nominee of the Congress-led UPA, got 7,13,763 votes, while his sole rival PA Sangma, fielded by the BJP-led NDA, secured 3,15,987 — of the total vote value of 10,29,750. Mukherjee assumed office on 25 July 2012.
The election will see secret ballot and political parties can't issue a whip to MPs or MLAs.
The Election Commission has said special pens will be provided to voters in view of a row that surrounded voting for a Rajya Sabha seat in Haryana in 2016.
Electors have to mark the ballot only with this pen and not with any other pen. Voting by any other pen may lead to invalidation of the vote.Nasim Zaidi, Chief Election Commissioner
A nomination paper has to be subscribed by at least 50 electors as 'Proposers', and by at least another 50 as 'Seconders'.
The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
Every elector can have as many preferences as the candidates contesting the election and the winner has to secure the required quota of votes to be declared elected – 50 percent of the valid votes plus one.
Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra will be the Returning Officer. Votes will be cast in Parliament House and in state assemblies. The vote count will take place in Delhi.
Assistant Returning Officers will be appointed in all state capitals, besides Delhi and Puducherry. Each candidate will be allowed to deploy a representative at the venue of polling.
"MPs are expected to vote in Parliament House in Delhi and the MLAs in their assemblies, but they can vote at another polling station in case of exigency," Zaidi said.
The BJP on Monday said it was for a consensus candidate and formed a three-member committee of senior ministers to talk to other political parties.
Its members are two former BJP Presidents Rajnath Singh (Home) and M Venkaiah Naidu (Urban Development), as well as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The BJP has not given any indication about its likely nominee, but opposition parties, including the Congress, have held parleys to find a consensus candidate. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and tribal leader Draupadi Murmu’s names are doing the rounds as possible government’s choice for the Presidential election.
The opposition parties will meet on 14 June to formally begin discussions on the Presidential and Vice Presidential elections.
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