The 2022 Indian Presidential Election will be the 16th presidential election to be held in India. Presently, Ram Nath Kovind is the incumbent President of India. Article 56(1) of the Constitution of India provides that the President of India shall remain in office for a period of five years. Consequent to the expiry of the term of President Ram Nath Kovind, an election poll to fill in the office is scheduled to be held on 18 July 2022 and counting of votes will take place on 21 July 2022The BJP nominated Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader of the party from Odisha, as the ruling NDA's candidate for the presidential election, sending out a significant political message after elevating a Dalit, Ram Nath Kovind, to the top post five years back.
BJP president JP Nadda announced her name at a press conference following a meeting of the party's parliamentary board, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leader. Murmu (64), a former Jharkhand governor, will be the first person from Odisha and the first tribal woman to occupy the top constitutional post if she is elected, a strong possibility as numbers are stacked in favour of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The Opposition had earlier in the day announced Yashwant Sinha as its joint candidate for the post. The poll is slated for July 18.
Soon after Murmu was named as the BJP-led NDA's presidential candidate, Prime Minister Modi said she has devoted her life to serving society and expressed confidence that she will be a "great President".
"Droupadi Murmu Ji has devoted her life to serving society and empowering the poor, downtrodden as well as the marginalised. She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation.
"Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country," Modi tweeted.
Considered a soft-spoken and affable leader who comes from Mayurbhanj, one of the more backward regions of Odisha, Murmu has held various positions in the party rising through the ranks and was a minister in the state when the BJP was in alliance with the ruling Biju Janata Dal.
Known for taking decisions with an eye on the larger political message, the BJP is hopeful that Murmu's candidature will help its reach among tribals not only in her home state but also across the country as it has continuously strived to woo various disadvantaged communities to good political results.
She will be the first President, if elected, born after independence. Modi has often spoken about being the first Prime Minister born after India gained freedom and used the plank to reach out to the masses.
She is likely to draw support from several non-NDA regional parties, including Odisha's ruling BJD, and even an opposition party like Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is in power in Jharkhand with the Congress, may find it hard to oppose her as the party identifies itself the cause of tribals.
Nadda told reporters that around 20 names were discussed by the party leadership for the presidential candidate before it decided to pick someone from the eastern region and a tribal and woman.
He said the ruling party wanted a consensus choice for the next President but it could not happen as the Opposition went ahead by naming its own candidate.
Nadda noted that Union minister Rajnath Singh and he had spoken to various party leaders, including those from the Opposition, to reach a consensus but in vain. The BJP had spoken to its allies about the candidature of Murmu, he added.
A former government official who later switched to politics, she is likely to file her nomination in a few days, with June 29 being the last date.
Incidentally, her name was also doing the rounds for the BJP's likely choice for the top constitutional post in 2017 but Kovind then emerged as its pick.
Fifteen candidates have filed their nominations for the presidential election with the papers of three of them rejected for want of proper documents, sources said on Friday.
While 11 filed their nominations on the first day of filing the papers on June 15, three filed their nominations on Thursday and only one on Friday.
One nomination was rejected on the first day and two were rejected on the second day.
The poll to elect the successor to incumbent Ram Nath Kovind will be held on July 18. The nomination process began on June 15 and will continue till June 29. Scrutiny of the nomination papers would be done on June 30.
Sources said one Sanjay Savji Deshpande from Mumbai filed his nomination on Friday for the top constitutional post.
On Thursday, Anand Singh Khuswah of Gwalior, Pratel Sureshchandra Laljibhai of Ahmedabad and Satya Narayan Prasad of Darbhanga in Bihar filed their nominations, two of which were rejected.
Parliamentary sources said a person named Lalu Prasad Yadav from Saran in Bihar was among those who filed their papers.
The nomination of one of the candidates was rejected as the person had not attached a certified copy of the entry showing his or her name in the current electoral roll for the parliamentary constituency in which the candidate is registered as an elector.
The candidates who filed nominations on Wednesday were from Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
A nomination paper of a candidate for the election has to be made in the prescribed format and subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and at least another 50 electors as seconders. Rs 15,000 as a security deposit should also be deposited.
