Unlike Pranab Mukherjee in 2014, President Ram Nath Kovind casts vote in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

Though no rule forbids the president to vote, in 2014, former President Pranab Mukherjee chose not to cast his vote and joined the long list of Presidents who remained "neutral".

This is the first time that Kovind has exercised his voting right after taking over as the President of India in July 2017./ Image: Twitter/ rashtrapatibhvn

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind, the first citizen of the country, on Sunday exercised his franchise at a voting booth in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kovind flashed his inked finger after exercising his franchise along with his wife at a polling booth at the Rashtrapati Bhawan as voters trooped to polling booths in large numbers in 59 constituencies across seven states. This is the sixth and penultimate round of the mega seven-phased electoral exercise. This is the first time that Kovind has exercised his voting right after taking over as the President of India in July 2017.

President Kovind voted this morning at the polling station in the Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, within the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex pic.twitter.com/Rn6xj38ovE

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) May 12, 2019

Though no rule forbids the president to vote, in 2014, former President Pranab Mukherjee chose not to cast his vote and joined the long list of Presidents who remained "neutral". President's Press Secretary Venu Rajamony had said, "the President in order to express his neutrality in the political fray has decided not to cast his ballot." This year, Mukherjee, however, voted on Sunday at a polling booth in K Kamraj Lane in the National Capital. He also posted a photo of his inked finger on Twitter. "After casting my vote today for the #2019Elections. We must all be a part of the celebration of the world's largest exercise of democracy," Mukherjee wrote.

After casting my vote today for the #2019Elections. We must all be a part of the celebration of the world's largest exercise of democracy.#CitizenMukherjee pic.twitter.com/PtOjNgUCyz

— Pranab Mukherjee (@CitiznMukherjee) May 12, 2019

In 1998, former President KR Narayanan became the first Indian President to vote when in office, setting another new precedent. He stood in a queue with ordinary citizens at a polling booth to cast his vote and broke the tradition of Presidents staying away from voting. Former Presidents Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil have in the past cast their votes at the special polling centres within Rashtrapati Bhavan or at Nirman Bhavan in 2004 and 2009 respectively. Over 1.43 crore people in Delhi are eligible to vote in this election which will decide the fate of 164 candidates, of which 18 are women. There are 43 independent candidates.