Presidential Election 2017: Polling begins in Mumbai, CM Fadnavis casts vote
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was among the first ones to cast his vote for the Presidential Election
The voting for the presidential election 2017 began at the Vidhan Bhawan in south Mumbai on Monday morning, with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis among the first ones to cast his vote.
Apart from the Maharashtra CM, former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar also reached the polling centre early to cast his vote.
The voting process began at 10 am and is likely to conclude by 5 pm.
According to a Vidhan Bhawan official, jailed NCP MLAs Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam are also expected to cast their votes in the presidential election.
A special PMLA court recently allowed Bhujbal’s application seeking permission to vote in the election. Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court granted permission to Ramesh Kadam, who is in jail after his arrest in an alleged corruption case, to vote in the election.
There are 288 MLAs in Maharashtra who are eligible to vote in the election including Fadnavis, who is also an MLA from Nagpur. Besides, there are 48 Lok Sabha MPs and 19 Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra who are expected to vote in Delhi.
NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind was in Mumbai on Saturday to seek support of MLAs and MPs. The opposition’s candidate, Meira Kumar, visited Mumbai last month to launch her campaign for the top constitutional post.
The president is elected by the electoral college, a body comprising of all elected members of Parliament and legislative assemblies of all states and union territories.
Kovind is assured of securing over 60 percent of the near 11 lakh electoral votes.
The next President of India will be announced on July 20, while the tenure of incumbent Pranab Mukherjee, the 13th president of India, ends on July 24.
