Former Tamil Nadu CM meets Droupadi Murmu at her residence in Delhi

NEW DELHI: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami met the President-designate Droupadi Murmu at her residence in the national capital on Saturday. The NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu was officially declared as the 15th President of the country after the conclusion of the counting of votes on Thursday.

She will be sworn in as India's 15th President on July 25 in the Central Hall of Parliament and the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana will administer her the oath of office. To facilitate members to attend the ceremony, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet that day at 2 pm instead of 11 am on the day.

The term of President Ram Nath Kovind comes to an end on Sunday. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday issued a certificate of the election to Droupadi Murmu as the next President of India. She defeated opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha in the presidential election as she received 2,824 votes with a value of 6,76,803 while Sinha secured 1,877 votes with a value of 3,80,177.

The certificate was issued after the returning officer handed over the Presidential poll results to the panel. A total of 4,809 MPs and MLAs cast their votes in the polling that took place on Monday (July 18).

"Presidential Election concluded with the declaration of the result...4,754 votes polled, out of which 4,701 valid and 53 invalids...The quota (for a candidate to be elected the President) was 5,28,491. #DroupadiMurmu secured 2824 first preference votes-value of which is 6,76,803," Secretary General of Rajya Sabha and the Returning Officer for Presidential Election 2022, PC Mody said. "1,877 first preference votes were secured by Yashwant Sinha - value 3,80,177. As 1st preference votes secured by #DroupadiMurmu were greater than the requisite quota, I in my capacity as Returning Officer declare that she has been elected to the office of President of India," he added.

According to the sources, 17 MPs have cross-voted in the Presidential elections in favour of Droupadi Murmu. She will be the first member from the tribal community and the second woman to hold the top constitutional post in the country.

Droupadi Murmu was the first woman governor of Jharkhand and served the post from 2015 to 2021. Born in a poor tribal family in a village of Mayurbhanj, a backward district in Odisha, Droupadi Murmu completed her studies despite challenging circumstances. She taught at Shri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur.

She has also served as a Minister in Odisha.