National Democratic Alliance candidate Ram Nath Kovind became the 14th President Of India defeating United Progressive Alliance candidate Meira Kumari with a clear majority. He emerged victorious after getting the support from BJP and other coalition parties, which was not uncertain.

Kovind who served as the president of BJP Dalit Morcha for four years, Bihar Governor for almost two years and a two-time Rajya Sabha MP of the BJP, had proved his utmost loyalty towards the Sangh Parivar all these years. A son of an ordinary farmer who cleared the Civil Service Examination in his third attempt, Kovind had wanted to practice as a lawyer in Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court. (madhyamam.com)

While many knew that with the support of the ruling party and other coalition parties the NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind's win was predictable, after the counting of votes it came to light that cross voting too helped him in winning the Presidential polls.

Cross voting at play

After final round of counting, Kovind got 7,02,044 votes out of a total of 10,69,358 while his opponent and former Lok Sabha speaker Kumar secured 3,67,314 votes. (ibcworldnews.com)

Nitish Kumar, the chief architect of the 'Mahagadbandhan' in Bihar and Janata Dal (U) leader changed sides unexpectedly, and even thoough the remaining opposition parties tried hard to pull it off, Kovind's majority couldn't be outshined.

Another shock for the Opposition came from Maharasthra, where the Congress and NCP have 83 MLAs, Samajwadi Party and CPI(M) have one each , the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen has two MLAs and the Peasants and Workers Party of India has three. But Opposition candidate Meira Kumar managed to get only 77 votes. (indianexpress.com)

Barely four months ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, eight of Congress's MLAs voted in favour of Kovind. Three of its MLAs cross-voted in Goa too. (indianexpress.com)

In West Bnegal though the BJP has just three MLAs and was expecting a total of only 5 votes, Ram Nath Kovind ended up getting eleven votes in total, their source unknown.

In Uttar Pradesh, where Meira Kumar should have got 73 votes got only 65 whereas Kovind got a massive 335 votes. (indianexpress.com)

In Delhi, two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs cross-voted. The BJP-led alliance, which has four MLAs in the Assembly, got six votes. (indianexpress.com)

In Assam, Meira Kumar should have got 39 votes, but managed to get only 35. The BJP, which was expecting 87, got 91. (indianexpress.com)

In Arunachal Pradesh, where the entire Congress Legislature Party barring former chief minister Nabam Tuki left the party, the Congress got three votes. (indianexpress.com)

The Congress has 57 MLAs in Gujarat, but Kumar got only 49 votes. None of the votes were declared invalid. Unlike in the Rajya Sabha elections, voting in Presidential elections is done by secret ballot, making it difficult for the parties to identify those who have cross-voted. (indianexpress.com)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeHsyhHAxaQ

Kovind won but with the lowest share

Ram Nath Kovind, the ruling NDA coalition's candidate, may have won the presidential election comfortably, but figures reveal his vote share is the lowest since 1974.
Kovind received 2930 votes with a value of 7,02,044, while his rival Meira Kumar, the joint opposition candidate, secured got 1844 votes with a value of 3,67,314. The last candidate who came this close was former CJI K.S. Rao, who contested the polls in 1967.

It finally came to a vote share of 65.65 per cent for President-elect Kovind, however, the victory margin is the lowest since the 1974 presidential poll. (outlookindia.com)

The voting in the Presidential elections in India is done by elected members of both the houses of the parliament which includes Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) and Members of Parliament (MPs).

Varying numbers of votes are allotted to the electoral members, such that the total weight of MPs and those of MLAs is roughly equal and that the voting power of states and territories are proportional to their population.

According to Election Commission data, Kovind's immediate predecessor Pranab Mukherjee (2012) had secured 69.31 per cent votes while Pratibha Patil (2007) had got 65.82 per cent of the total votes, marginally higher than the share secured by Kovind.

K R Narayanan (1997) and A P J Abdul Kalam (2002) bagged 94.97 per cent and 89.57 per cent respectively, the highest victory percentages since 1974. (outlookindia.com)

In the first presidential election of a free India , Prasad bagged 83.81 votes.
(outlookindia.com)

The lowest margin of victory for any presidential poll was during the 1969 election when then president V V Giri secured just 48 per cent of the total votes. (outlookindia.com)

As Pranab Mukerhjee's last day as president is on July 24, therefore the oath ceremony will be held on July 25 Ram Nath Kovind.

Kovind will be administered oath by the Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar in the Central Hall of Parliament.