NEW DELHI: It is evident that the ruling party NDA's candidate Droupadi Murmu will succeed incumbent Ram Nath Kovind to become the country's 15th President on Thursday. The counting of votes for the presidential elections will commence at 11 am and the results of who the new President of India will be announced at around 4 pm.

Droupadi Murmu who is pitted against the Opposition's Yashwant Sinha if elected will be the first tribal woman to occupy the top constitutional post in the country. The new president will take oath on July 25.

The ballot boxes from all states have reached the Parliament House and are stored in room number 63, where the boxes are guarded behind a round-the-clock security.

Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, who is the Chief Returning Officer for the poll, will oversee the counting Thursday. He will first brief on the poll trends after all votes of MPs have been counted, and then again after votes of 10 states in alphabetical order have been counted. After votes of 20 states have been counted, and he will then finally declare the result after the total counting.

A total of 4,809 electors, comprising 776 MPs and 4,033 elected MLAs, are entitled to vote in the election, but nominated MPs and MLAs, and Members of Legislative Council are not.

Altogether, 34 parties declared support for the Opposition candidate, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha and 44 for Droupadi Murmu, the former Governor of JharkhandThe NDA candidate has also been supported by YSRCP, BJD, BSP, Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, and JMM.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to congratulate Droupadi Murmu after the election results are declared, sources said.

The Delhi BJP has planned a roadshow from the party headquarters to Rajpath after the results are declared.

The residents in Odisha's Rairangpur, the hometown of Droupadi Murmu, are also ready to celebrate with 20,000 sweets prepared. A tribal dance and victory procession has also been planned.

Various local organizations such as traders' bodies, bar associations, religious and educational institutions, and even government officials are waiting with palpable enthusiasm to congratulate the "daughter of the soil".

There is enthusiasm among the Odisha people as for the first time, someone from the state is tipped to occupy the country's topmost constitutional post.

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