Voting begins in India to elect next president

NEW DELHI－Voting to elect the next president of India began on Monday across the country as the incumbent Ram Nath Kovind completes his five-year term later this week.

Elected representatives from members of parliament and members of legislative assemblies across all states will cast their votes to elect the country's 15th president.

The counting of votes is slated to take place on Thursday.

Droupadi Murmu, candidate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, or NDA, is expected to win the election against opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, as the NDA has a majority in both houses of parliament and most states' assemblies.

Both Murmu and Sinha have had illustrious political careers. While Murmu has been the governor of eastern Jharkhand state, Sinha has held positions of the country's finance minister and external affairs minister.

Murmu has been a member of the main ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP. Sinha was a member of the Trinamool Congress party, now the ruling party in the eastern West Bengal state, after quitting the BJP a couple of years ago.

The president of India is elected indirectly by elected representatives, and each state's lawmakers have different vote values. The president's role is largely ceremonial, but the position can be important during times of political uncertainty such as a hung parliament, when the office assumes greater power.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party has projected Murmu as a leader representing poor tribal communities, which generally lack healthcare and education facilities in remote villages, reported The Associated Press. Murmu, 64, hails from the eastern Odisha state.

Murmu "has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalized", Modi tweeted after her candidacy was announced.

If elected, she will become the first tribal president and the second female president of India.

The winner will replace Kovind, a leader from the Dalit community.

Kovind, 76, is a longtime associate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or National Volunteer Corps, a Hindu nationalist group. He has been president since 2017.

The result will be announced later this week.

Agencies - Xinhua