Counting of votes begins for India's next president

NEW DELHI, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Counting of votes for the next Indian president began in the capital New Delhi on Thursday.

President of India is elected indirectly with voting by means of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of the parliament and the legislative assemblies of all states and union territories.

The voting took place on July 18 when the elected representatives cast their votes to elect the country's 15th president.

Ruling National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate Draupadi Murmu is expected to win over the Opposition's candidate Yashwant Sinha with a comfortable margin, as the NDA enjoys a majority in Parliament as well as in most of the state legislative assemblies.

A teacher by profession, Murmu began her political career with today's main ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1997.

In her political career spanning two-and-a-half decades, she was elected to a local body in her home state Odisha in eastern India and its legislature, but lost an election to become a parliamentarian.

Murmu was the first female governor of the eastern Jharkhand state from 2015 to 2021.