There’s nothing exciting about the Prez poll, at least not till the eve of the 2024 LS election

The process of electing the 16th President of India has begun. The election is scheduled for July 18 and the counting of votes will take place on July 21. Exactly a month earlier, Yashwant  Sinha, the Opposition’s unanimous choice, filed his papers. The choice of the ruling BJP and its allies is Droupadi Murmu. Unlike other elections, the presidential election is routine and there’s nothing exciting about it. Generally, the ruling party with a majority in the Lower House and sufficient seats in the Upper gets its candidate elected. The Opposition candidate is more of positioning to tell all that the next President was not a consensus choice. Though the BJP is a little short on the numbers, its candidate is likely to sail through as BJD and others have pledged support to Murmu. The President is indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of MPs and MLAs. The electoral college comprises 776 MPs and 4,123 MLAs who would be voting to elect the President. Total votes for UPA candidate (including the support of non-UPA parties) are 4,02,682 which is 37.31 per cent of total votes while the votes for NDA candidates with outside support are 6,13,849 or 56.82 per cent.

Thus the outcome of the election is obvious. Though often the office of President is seen as politically insignificant, it is not. The President’s role gets pronounced at the time of the formation of a new Government, especially when no party has a clear mandate. For this reason, the party in power never takes it lightly and settles for the most trusted person. Murmu is a former Jharkhand Governor, a two-term MLA from Odisha and served as Minister in the BJP-BJD coalition Government. Sinha has had an illustrious political career and a clear political ideology; he served as Finance Minister in the Vajpayee Government. But it is the numbers and not merit that would decide the President and Murmu’s credentials as a tribal lady are unbeatable. What is more, Murmu is getting a lot of support from non-NDA parties and so is likely to win hands down. But her moment of truth would come in 2024 when she would be instrumental in the formation of a new Government at the Centre.