The nominations of all presidential candidates, barring those of NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind and Opposition-backed Meira Kumar, were rejected today. About 95 persons had filed their nominations, including Kumar and Kovind.
Except the two main contenders, the nominations of the rest were rejected as none of them were proposed and backed by the required number of members of the electoral college, according to sources in the Lok Sabha secretariat.
“The nominations were rejected in the scrutiny process initiated today,” they added.
According to the rules, a presidential candidate's nomination should be signed by at least 50 members of an electoral college as proposers and endorsed by as many. MPs of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and MLAs of all legislative assemblies are members of the electoral college.
This time, the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha is the returning officer for the presidential election.
The nominations for the presidential election was closed yesterday. The polling will take place on July 17. The result will be declared on July 20. The term of incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee expires on July 24.
With PTI Inputs
