Presidential election 2017: Polling as it happened

New Delhi: Parliamentarians and legislators across India began voting on Monday to elect the country's 14th President in what is a direct contest between ruling NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind and opposition-backed Meira Kumar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to cast his vote to elect the next president of India.

17 July 2017

19:26 IST

Close to 99 per cent voting in Presidential Poll, says Returning Officer Anup Mishra.

17:27 IST

Polling over.

14:45 IST

Two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislators former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam briefly stepped out of jails to vote in the Presidential election.

14:25 IST

Telangana CM K Chandrashekar  Rao casts his vote in Hyderabad for Presidential Poll 2017.

13:33 IST

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis casts his vote in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

13:25 IST

Madhya Pradesh MLAs queued up to cast their vote for the next President in the Assembly amid tight security.

13:25 IST

Voting for the presidential election was underway in the Rajasthan Assembly with over 122 legislators exercising their franchise.

13:17 IST

Opposition`s presidential candidate Meira Kumar on Monday said she has requested members of the electoral college to "heed the inner voice of their conscience" and vote in the best interest of the country.

12:50 IST

Voting was underway in the Bihar assembly to elect the country's 14th President.

12:30 IST

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal cast his vote in the Presidential election at the Delhi Assembly.

12:02 IST

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Biju Patnaik casts his vote for Presidential Election at Odisha Assembly.

11:51 IST

Polling is underway to elect the 14th President of the country with Kerala assembly legislators casting their votes.

11:51 IST

Congress president Sonia Gandhi casts her vote for the Presidential Poll.

11:47 IST

NCP leader Praful Patel confirms that all party MPs and MLAs will vote for Meira Kumar.

11:30 IST

SP leader Shivpal Yadav has confirmed that he along with his brother and party patriarch Maulayam Singh Yadav will vote for Ram Nath Kovind.

Shivpal, who is entangled in a bitter feud with his nephew Akhilesh, says he was not consulted before Akhilesh-led faction announced support for Meira Kumar.

Heaping praise on Kovind, the senior SP leader said the NDA presidential candidate is a secular person.

11:30 IST

BJP supporters perform 'havan' for NDA's presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind's victory.

11:27 IST

Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh casts his vote in state assembly premises for Presidential Election.

11:25 IST

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and Union Minister Uma Bharti were among those who cast their votes for the presidential poll at the Tilak Hall.

11:24 IST

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu casts his vote in Amaravati.

11:23 IST

No matter who wins, President will be from Scheduled Caste. Huge victory for our movement and party, says BSP supremo Mayawati.

11:23 IST

Voting underway in the Punjab and Haryana assemblies.

11:00 IST

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan arrives at MP Assembly to cast his vote.

10:50 IST

DMK working president MK Stalin casts his vote at Tamil Nadu Assembly.

10:40 IST

Voting for Presidential Election underway at Assam Legislative Assembly; CM Sarbananda Sonowal casts his vote.

10:33 IST

Jailed MLAs Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam will be brought to Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from prison to cast their votes in the Presidential Election.

10:29 IST

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath arrives at UP Assembly to cast his vote for Presidential election.

10:14 IST

BJP president Amit Shah casts his vote at the Parliament for Presidential Poll 2017.

10:08 IST

Voting begins for presidential polls. PM Narendra Modi casts his vote.

09:38 IST

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu expresses confidence on NDA-pick Ram Nath Kovind to comfortably win the Race to Raisina Hill.

09:33 IST

PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to cast their votes at 10 am in the Parliament.

08:22 IST

Janata Dal-United ​and Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which are not allied with BJP, have vouched their support for Kovind. Besides, the two parties, TRS in Telangana, different factions of AIADMK, YSR Congress have also announced their backing for the NDA candidate.

08:19 IST

In what can bring in huge embarrassment for the Congress-led Opposition, Samjawadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav is expected to vote for the NDA nominee. Even party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav has heaped praise on Kovind, but is yet to officially announce his support for him.

Interestingly, SP president Akhilesh Yadav has decided to vote for Meira Kumar, thus giving a clear signal that the Yadav family still remains a divided house.

08:18 IST

MPs and MLAs cannot use their pens and will have to mark their preferences in the Presidential poll with a specially-designed writing instrument.

08:18 IST

Polling will take place in Parliament House and respective state assemblies between 10 am and 5 pm.

08:16 IST

The stage is all set for the election of the 14th President of India today a contest in which Ram Nath Kovind has a clear edge.

Urging the partie sto vote for Opposition nominee Meira Kuan, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday called for "conscience vote" while attacking the Narendra Modi government for trying to impose "narrow-minded.

08:09 IST

A total of 4896 voters --- 4120 MLAs and 776 elected MPs -- are eligible to cast their ballot. MLCs of states with legislative council are not part of the electoral college.

Kovind, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has the backing of all the party's allies besides several regional parties, while Kumar has been fielded by the Congress and some major opposition parties in what they call an "ideological battle" against the ruling party.

Counting of votes in the election will be taken up on July 20 and the result will be known the same evening -- four days before the end of the term of President Pranab Mukherjee. The new President is set to take over on July 25.

While the Lok Sabha Speaker, an elected member, can vote, the two nominated members in the Lower House from the Anglo-Indian community cannot. 
Twelve nominated members in Rajya Sabha are also ineligible.

Since the election is through a secret ballot, the parties cannot issue a whip to their members to vote for a particular candidate.

The NDA, led by the BJP, has 5,37,683 votes includes the Shiv Sena, and the shortage is around 12,000 votes.

But the promised support from the BJD, the TRS and the YSR Congress and likely backing from the AIADMK factions could offset the shorfall of the presidential votes by a substantial margin.