India to get new President today 

Voting for the Presidential election held today in the Parliament, on the first day of the Monsoon Session. 

Droupadi Murmu is the BJP-led NDA candidate, who is contesting against Yashwant Sinha, supported by the opposition parties. The voting began at 10am and will culminate at 5pm.

More than 4,000 MPs and MLAs will cast their votes to elect the 15th President of India. 

With several regional parties extending their support to Murmu, a former Jharkhand governor, the numbers are in clear favour of the NDA nominee. These parties include the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), Shiromani Akali Dal, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), AIADMK, TDP, YSRCP and Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). 

On the other hand, Sinha is being backed by the Congress, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Akhilesh Yadav led-Samajwadi Party, National Conference, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Rashtriya Janata Dal and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF). The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the latest to join the Opposition list. 

The counting of votes will take place at Parliament House on July 21 and India’s 15th President will take oath on July 25. 

Who is Droupadi Murmu?

Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha, was named the NDA’s candidate for the presidential polls next month. According to reports, Murmu, 64, is a former Jharkhand governor and will be the first tribal woman to occupy the top constitutional post if she is elected. 

She graduated from the Ramadevi Women’s University in Bhubaneswar with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979. She started as a teacher before entering State politics in 1997 as the councillor of Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. The same year, she was declared the VP of BJP’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) Morcha. 

Who is Yashwant Sinha?
 
Sinha began his political career with the Janata Party in 1984. He was also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 1992 to 2018. In 2021, he joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and was made its national vice president. 

During his political career, the 84-year-old leader, at various points, served as the Union minister of finance, minister of external affairs, among others. He last served as the external affairs minister, from July 2002 to May 2004, in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.