New Delhi, June 9
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday announced the schedule for electing the 16th President of the country.
The ECI said the voting for the polls would take place on July 18 and the counting on July 21.
The next President would replace incumbent Ram Nath Kovind whose term is going to end on July 24, 2022.
Addressing a press conference here Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said, the nominations for the Presidential polls would begin on June 15, the day on which notification will be issued and the last date for filing papers would be June 29. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 30 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is fixed for July 2, he added.
The CEC announced that the Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha has been designated as the Returning Officer (RO) for the polls, as all COVID-19 protocols would be followed during voting and counting of votes.
Kumar also announced that political parties are not allowed to issue whips for their elected Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and Legislative Assemblies, who comprise the electors in the polls, as the election is conducted through “secret ballot”.
According to the ECI, in the Presidential polls, the total number of electors would be 4,809, which comprise 776 elected members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and 4,033 MLAs of all the state Assemblies, including that of Union territories.
The CEC said the MPs would vote in Parliament House while MLAs would cast their votes in their respective legislative Assemblies. He added that the ECI is fully geared to conduct the election in a free and fair manner.
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