New Delhi, July 18 (Agency) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday voted in Parliament House to elect the next President of India, with the latter coming in a wheelchair and looking very feeble. Manmohan Singh and Modi were among 350 electors who exercised their franchise within the first 1.5 hours of the presidential ballot. Four officers helped Manmohan Singh, 89, stand up from his wheelchair and drop the paper in the secret ballot box.
Voting in the presidential poll is also underway in state assemblies. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Tamil Nadu’s M K Stalin, Maharashtra’s Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis, besides Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia voted in the first few hours.Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs are entitled to vote across the country. A room in Parliament House has been transformed into a polling station, while balloting is concurrently underway in state assemblies and will continue till 5 pm. Counting of votes will take place on July 21. The contest is between NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu and opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha, with the former holding the upper hand as she has the support of even some non-NDA partners.