Meira Kumar vs Kovind: New President to be named today

New Delhi: The name of the next President of India would be known on Thursday with the counting of votes to be completed by 5 pm.

Counting of polls would begin at 11 am and the first ballot box to be opened would be the one of Parliament House, Lok Sabha secretary general Anoop Mishra said on Wednesday.

The ballot boxes received from states would be counted on an alphabetical basis and the votes would be counted on four separate tables. There would be eight rounds of counting.

The results would be declared by around 5 pm, a senior official said.

Close to 99 per cent voting was recorded for electing India’s next President. The numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling coalition’s no-minee Ram Nath Kovind over the Opposition’s candidate Meira Kumar. Thirty-two polling stations, including the one at Parliament House, were set up in various states.

A total of 4,896 voters — 4,120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs — were eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college.

While the value of an MLA’s vote depends on the population of the state he or she belongs to, the value of an MP’s vote remains the same at 708.