New Delhi: Opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha will register his nomination on June 27, 2022. Draupadi Murmu, the ruling NDA candidate, is slated to register her candidacy today in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and other top BJP leaders, news agency ANI reported.
Sinha will also "be visiting Bihar & Jharkhand for two days from today onwards," ANI reported.
Draupadi Murmu arrived in New Delhi on Thursday, when she visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP National President JP Nadda.
Each candidate looking to run for the President of India's office are supposed to file their nominations. The candidates are also required to submit over Rs 15,000 as deposit and submit a signed list of 50 proposers and 50 seconders. The proposers and seconders can be any of the 4,896 electors eligible to vote in the Presidential election.
As the nomination process is about to get underway, the NDA has an advantage over the UPA, not just in terms of numbers but also in terms of the candidate.
The idea of the first Adivasi president of India will be a strong incentive to win support from various political parties that are on the fence, such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the YSRCP, and others.
Former union minister Yashwant Sinha was chosen by the joint Opposition to run for President after Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar, and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah declined the invitation to become the common Presidential candidate for the upcoming elections on July 18.
Presedential Elections
The Election Commission of India is given the power to hold presidential elections under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution. The members of an electoral college, which consists of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of state legislatures, including the national capital territories of Delhi and Puducherry, elect the president of India. Theoretically representing the people who would ideally cast a presidential vote, these elected representatives cast a ballot for the president.
In terms of numbers, the electoral college is made up of 233 members of the Rajya Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha and 4,120 members of legislative assemblies. A total of 4,896 electors. It is to be noted that the nominated members of the state assemblies and the two Houses are not allowed to participate in the presidential election as they have been nominated by the President himself.
Besides, issuing whips to garner votes for a particular candidate is also prohibited.