The 2022 Indian presidential election was the 16th presidential election in India held on 18 July 2022 to elect the president of India. The incumbent president Ram Nath Kovind did not run for reelection.

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Droupadi Murmu won the election by a margin of 296,626 votes against Yashwant Sinha, the United Opposition candidate. Murmu became the first member of a Scheduled Tribe and second woman to become president, as well as the first president born after independence.

Electoral system

The president of India is indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of the parliament, the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the 28 states, and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the union territories of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir. As of 2022, the electoral college comprises 776 members of Parliament (MPs) and 4,033 members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) not counting the 90 MLAs of the dissolved Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

The Election Commission of India assigns varying numbers of votes to electoral college members, such that the total weight of MPs and MLAs is roughly equal and that the voting power of a state or territory is proportional to its population. Overall, the members of the electoral college are eligible to cast 1,086,431 votes, yielding a threshold for a majority of 543,216 votes. through single transferable system with proportional representation

For a candidate to be in the president's office, they must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. The election is held by means of a secret ballot under the instant-runoff voting system.The Constitution of 1950 use the term Single transferable vote, which is now used for a system with multiple-member constituencies. When there is only one of the latter, the system is now called Instant-runoff voting The manner of election of the president is provided by Article 55 of the Constitution.

Article 58 of the Indian Constitution provides that the president and vice president of India must be citizens of India and at least 35 years old. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the political parties, in which case each party devises a method (such as a primary election) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. Traditionally, the primary elections are indirect elections where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The general election in July is an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors in turn directly elect the president and vice president.

By convention, the secretary general of the Lok Sabha and the secretary general of the Rajya Sabha are appointed as the returning officers by rotation. For the 2017 presidential election, the secretary general of the Lok Sabha was appointed as a returning officer. Therefore, for the 2022 presidential election, the secretary general of the Rajya Sabha, Shri P.C. Mody, was appointed as the returning officer in notification by ECI on 13 June 2022.

Election schedule Under sub-section 1 of Section 4 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act of 1952, the election schedule for the president of India was announced by the Election Commission of India on 9 June 2022. S.No. EventDateDay1.Issue of election commission's notification calling the election15 June 2022Wednesday2.Last date for making nominations29 June 20223.Date for the scrutiny of nominations30 June 2022Thursday4.Last date for the withdrawal of candidatures2 July 2022Saturday5.Date on which a poll shall, if necessary, be taken18 July 2022Monday6.Date on which counting, if required, shall be taken21 July 2022Thursday

Electoral college

Electoral college member strength HouseTotalNDAUPAOthersLok Sabha543Rajya Sabha228 State legislative assemblies4,025 Total4,796

Electoral college vote value composition

HouseTotal NDAUPAOthers Lok Sabha votes 380,100 Rajya Sabha votes 159,600State legislative assemblies 542,291 Total votes 1,081,991

All 4 Rajya Sabha seats and 90 State Legislative Assembly seats of Jammu and Kashmir were vacant, as the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was dissolved. The lone Rajya Sabha seat of Tripura was vacant. Seven seats of the state legislative assemblies across various states (4 of Gujarat, 1 each of Maharashtra, Tripura and West Bengal) are also vacant.

Party-wise vote (projection)

AlliancePartiesMembers of Lok SabhaMembers of Rajya SabhaMembers of State Legislative AssembliesTotalBJP CandidateNDA1BJP212,10063,700185,036458,03642.33%2JD(U)11,2003,5007,90122,6012.09%3AIADMK7002,80011,44014,9401.38%4AD(S)1,40002,4963,8960.36%5RLJP3,500003,5000.32%6AGP07001,0441,7440.16%7MNF7007002441,6440.15%8PMK07008801,5800.15%9NPF7007001261,5260.14%10UPPL07008121,5120.14%11NPP70005491,2490.12%12NISHAD001,2481,2480.12%13JJP001,1201,1200.10%14NDPP70003781,0780.10%15AJSU70003521,0520.10%16SKM70001338330.47%17RPI(A)0700070018TMC(M)0700070019HAM0069269220PJP0035035021BPF0034834822IPFT0018218223PBK0017617624JSS0017517525RSP0017517526AINRC0016016027JSP0015915928UDP0013613629HLP0011211230PDF00686831MGP00404032KPA00363633HSPDP00343434Independents2,1007004,3407,1400.66%Total of NDA528,94248.89%Non-NDA35YSRCP15,4006,30024,00945,7094.22%36BJD8,4006,30016,98631,6862.93%37BSP7,0007007108,4100.78%38SS (Shinde)007,0007,0000.65%39JMM7007005,2806,6800.62%40JD(S)7007004,4965,8960.54%41SAD1,40003481,7480.16%42BVA005255250.0543SDF070077070.0744LJP(RV)700007000.0645JCC0038711530.11%46MNS0017547PWPI0017548JD(L)0041649SS (Uddhav)13,3002,1002,80018,2001.68%50SBSP001,2481,2480.12%51TDP2,1007003,6576,4570.60%52RLP70003871,0870.10%Non-NDA Backing BJP Candidate137,20612.69%Total Votes for BJP Candidate666,148 61.58%Opposition candidate (AITC)AITC1AITC16,1009,10033,43258,6325.42%UPA2INC37,10021,70088,578147,37813.62%3DMK16,8007,00022,09645,8964.24%4NCP3,5002,8009,91916,2191.50%5IUML2,1001,4002,2805,7800.53%6JKNC2,100002,1000.19%7VCK70007041,4040.13%8MDMK07007041,4040.13%9RSP700007000.20%10MMK0035235211KC0030430412KMDK0017617613TVK0017617614KC(J)0015215215NCK0015215216RMPI0015215217GFP00202018Independents07002,2642,9640.27%Total of UPA + AITC283,96126.23%SP+19SP2,1002,10023,43827,6382.55%20RLD07001,7932,4930.23%21Independents070007000.06%Left22CPI(M)2,1003,50011,08616,6861.54%23CPI1,4001,4003,4576,2570.58%24CPI(ML)L002,2522,2520.21%25KC(M)7007007602,1600.20%26C(S)0015215200.14%27INL0015228JKC0015229KC(B)0015230NSC0015231Independents00760Others32TRS6,3004,90013,59624,7962.29%33AAP07,00014,30821,3081.97%34RJD04,20013,47617,6761.63%35AIMIM1,40002,1393,5390.33%36AIUDF70001,7402,4400.23%37GJM001511510.01%38ISF001511510.01%Non-UPA Backing Opposition candidate129,76711.98%Total Votes for Opposition candidate413,728 38.29%OthersUndecided1BTP005525520.05%2SAD(A)700007000.11%3SWP001751754RD001161165INLD001121126ZPM0048487RGP0020208KHNAM0017179Independents003633630.03%Total of Undecided2,103 0.19%Total 380,100159,600542,2911,081,991100%

Candidates On 21 June 2022, Yashwant Sinha, a former AITC leader, was unanimously chosen as the common candidate of UPA and other opposition parties for the 2022 presidential election. On the same day, NDA chose Droupadi Murmu as its presidential candidate.

National Democratic Alliance

Name Born Alliance Positions held Home state Date announcedRefDroupadi Murmu20 June 1958 (aged 64) Baidaposi, OdishaNational Democratic Alliance(BJP) Governor of Jharkhand Member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Rairangpur Minister of State in the Odisha Government Odisha21 June 2022

United Opposition (India)

Name Born Alliance Positions held Home stateDate announced Ref Yashwant Sinha 6 November 1937 (aged 84)Patna, Bihar United Opposition(TMC) External Affairs Minister of India Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Finance Minister of India Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Hazaribagh Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand from Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Bihar from Bihar21 June 2022

Potential candidates List of Presidential candidates Party India PartyLeaderSeats contestedRepublican Party (India)Pushpam Priya Choudhary TBD Democratic Party (India)Sushil Kumar Labour Party (India)Mukesh Sahani  Conservative Party (India)Javed Khans Vice President – Gopalkrishna Gandhi Sharad Pawar

Campaign During her election campaign, Murmu visited various states seeking support. Several opposition parties, including BJD, JMM, BSP, SS, YSRCP, SAD, and JDS, announced support for her candidature prior to polling.

Controversy Congress filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Droupadi Murmu and BJP leaders, alleging poll code violation in Karnataka. The Indian National Congress alleged that the ruling BJP had influenced the MLAs by offering bribes and other inducements in violation of the election code. The MLAs were called for training on voting in the presidential election and allegedly provided luxurious rooms, meals, liquor, drinks and entertainment.

Results

+ Results of the 2022 Indian presidential electionCandidate Coalition Individualvotes ElectoralCollege votes % Droupadi MurmuNational Democratic Alliance 2,824 676,803 64.03Yashwant SinhaUnited 1877 380,177 35.97 Valid votes 4,701 1,056,980 98.89 Blank and invalid votes 53 15,397 1.11Total 4,754 1,072,377 100Registered voters / Turnout4,8091,086,43198.86

Breakdown

State/UTElectorsDroupadi MurmuYashwant SinhaInvalidAbstainMembers of Parliament77154020812966Andhra Pradesh175173002Arunachal Pradesh6055401Assam1261042002Bihar 24313310621Chhattisgarh90216900Goa40281200Gujarat1781215700Haryana90593001Himachal Pradesh68452210Jharkhand8170911Karnataka2241507040Kerala140113900Madhya Pradesh2301467950Maharashtra2871819843Manipur6054600Meghalaya6047814Mizoram40291100Nagaland6059001Odisha147137901Punjab117810153Rajasthan2007512302Sikkim3232000Tamil Nadu2347515810Telangana119311312Tripura59411701Uttar Pradesh40328711132Uttarakhand70511513West Bengal2937121642Delhi7085642Puducherry3020910Total4,7962,8241,8775342Source:

Reactions Right after Murmu was announced as the winner, numerous congratulations and wishes from other world leaders were posted on social media. Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his greetings to Droupadi Murmu for being elected as the president of India and hoped for further development of the Russian–Indian political dialogue and productive cooperation in different areas under her leadership. President of the United States Joe Biden congratulated her and stated her victory was the "strength of Indian democracy". Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated her and said that he would be willing to work with her to enhance political mutual trust between China and India. The presidents of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, and other countries also congratulated her.

After the election results came out, tribal communities in several states celebrated her victory. Many minority tribal communities in Bangladesh, including the Santal community, congratulated Murmu.

See also 2022 elections in India 2022 Indian vice presidential election List of Indian presidential elections List of presidents of India

References