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NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, after the end of the second round of counting of votes, is leading the contest with Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha with a margin of 812 votes.
Murmu was leading after the first round of counting which began at 11 a.m. "After the second round, where ballot paper of first 10 states alphabetically was counted - total valid votes were 1,138 and their total value was 1,49,575. Out of this, Droupadi Murmu gets 809 votes valued at 1,05,299 and Yashwant Sinha gets 329 votes valued at 44,276," said PC Mody, Secretary Gen, Rajya Sabha. "If I include the earlier results of Parliament, the grand total so far is 1,886 valid votes valued at 6,73,175 out of which Droupadi Murmu gets 1,349 votes valued at 4,83,299. Yashwant Sinha gets 537 votes, valued at 1,89,876 so far," he added. Earlier, during the first round of counting, Murmu secured 540 votes with a value of 3,78,000 as against Sinha who secured 208 votes with a value of 1,45,600. "Droupadi Murmu has secured 540 votes with a value of 3,78,000 and Yashwant Sinha has secured 208 votes with a value of 1,45,600. A total of 15 votes were invalid. These are figures for Parliament (votes), please wait for the next announcement," said PC Mody, Secretary General, Rajya Sabha. Notably, the celebrations began at SLS (Shyam, Laxman & Sipun) Memorial Residential School, Pahadpur, Odisha founded by Murmu in memory of her husband and 2 sons after their demise. The results will declared later on Thursday to decide who will succeed incumbent Ram Nath Kovind as the country's 15th President. The counting is underway in Room No 63 in Parliament House and the result will be declared immediately after the counting. The immediate precincts of Room Number 63 have been declared as sanitised and "silent zone". Only counting officers, officials deployed to assist the Rajya Sabha Secretary General, candidates and one authorised representative of each candidate, observers appointed by the Election Commission and media persons with valid passes are allowed to enter into the counting hall. Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody is the returning officer for the Presidential election. Out of 736 electors comprising 727 MPs and nine MLAs permitted by the Election Commission to vote at the Parliament house, 728 (719 MPs and nine MLAs) cast their votes. The total turnout at Parliament House was 98.91 per cent. The voting took place on July 18 and was completed in a peaceful manner. Droupadi Murmu is seen to have a clear edge in the contest with several political parties extending support to the NDA candidate. (ANI)
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