Eleven people filed their nominations on Wednesday for the Presidential election to be held on July 18, according to Rajya Sabha sources.
The Election Commission issued the notification for the election on Wednesday, starting the nomination period. While 11 nominations were filed to the Returning Officer appointed by the Election Commission, Rajya Sabha secretary-general P.C. Mody, one of those nominations was rejected as it did not include a certified copy of the entry relating to the candidate in the electoral roll of the Parliamentary constituency where he or she is registered to vote, the sources said.
Among the candidates is a Lalu Prasad Yadav from Saran in Bihar, not to be confused with the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief with the same name. Some of the nominations filed were from individuals who have contested the Presidential polls as well as other elections several times. Dr. K. Padmarajan from Salem, Tamil Nadu; Jeevan Kumar Mittal from Moti Nagar in Delhi; and Sairo Bano Mohammad Patel and her husband Mohammad A. Hamid Patel are among the contestants.
According to election schedule announced by the Election Commission on June 9, the last date for nominations would be June 29. Voting would be held in Parliament, State Assemblies and the Assemblies of Delhi and Puducherry on July 18. Counting of votes would be done on July 21, ahead of the end of President Ram Nath Kovind’s term on July 24. The electoral college would comprise 4,809 members.
For nomination, candidates require 50 members of the electoral college to propose their name and another 50 to second it.
