Congress today hit out at P A Sangma saying magnanimity should mark the conduct of those contesting elections as the BJP-backed candidate, who lost to UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential race, alleged that the non-UPA ruled states were lured with inducements during poll.
  
"Magnanimity should mark the conduct of people, who contest elections. Gritting after losing an election only endorses the proverb that grapes are sour (when you cannot reach them)," party spokespersson Manish Tewari told reporters when asked to comment on Sangma's contentions.
 
After the results of the Presidential election came in and Mukherjee emerged victorious, Sangma alleged that the spirit of secrecy of ballot was "thrown to the wind" and that the UPA persuaded political parties commanding major sections of the Presidential electoral college by economic and other packages...as well as inducements, threats and promises.
 
Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi also rejected Sangma's contentions saying "I think one should not talk with such a narrow vision".

BJP national president Nitin Gadkari today congratulated the President of India elect Pranab Mukherjee.
 
"I extend my hearty congratulations to Pranab Mukherjee on his election today as the new President of India. I am sure that the country will make further development and progress. I wish him all success and a bright future," Gadkari told a press conference at his residence in Nagpur.
 
He however declined to take questions on cross voting in the Presidential election in the state of Karnataka, where the BJP is in power.
 
He also declined to answer questions related to the possibility of defeated BJP-sponsored candidate P A Sangama knocking at the doors of the Supreme Court to challenge Pranab Mukherjee's election as president on the issue of his holding an office of profit.

Bangladesh's top leadership today congratulated Pranab Mukherjee on his election as India's President and expressed optimism that Indo-Bangla relations would grow further under his "direction". 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar congratulated Pranab Mukherjee for his victory in the presidential poll. He also requested Mukherjee to undertake a visit to Bihar shortly.  

Pranab Mukherjee has called up Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and Janata Dal - United chief Sharad Yadav for supporting him in the Presidential poll.

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, who refused to support Pranab Mukherjee for the Presidential poll till the last minute, called him up on Sunday evening to congratulate him for winning the election.

UPA's candidate Pranab Mukherjee polled 69.3 per cent votes with a value of 7,13,763, according to the Returning Officer.

Reactions from other CMs. Incidentally, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was among the first call Pranab Mukherjee and congratulate him.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, whose National Conference had supported Mukherjee, expressed hope that he would visit the state soon. "We are sure he will be a great President and the nation will benefit from the vast experience that he has gathered over his long and illustrious career. "We look forward to receive him in Srinagar when he comes to see the tulips," Omar said.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party had voted for Mukherjee, said, "I congratulate UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee on his election as the President of India. I hope country will develop in his leadership." Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said, "Mukherjee is an intelligent person and I hope his tenure would be good."

The final vote count: Pranab Mukherjee: 713,387, PA Sangma: 315,455

Justifiably, Pranab Mukherjee's family are overwhelmed at his win. His daughter Sharmistha said, "I think he has done justice to whatever offices that he held. He has fulfilled his duties and responsibilities to the best of his ability in whatever he has done. So, I'm sure that he will give a new dimension to the office of the President."

"I think over all these years, he has developed some excellent personal rapport with people cutting across party lines. Whatever the opposition might say, personally they held him in high esteem. I think that definitely helps. His stature, his ability to create consensus, all these things will definitely help," she told television channels.

A beaming Sharmistha said, "I am the most proud daughter in India today, thank you baba." 

Pranab Mukherjee added and said he would justify people's faith in him and would try his best to protect, defend and preserve the Constitution of India.

Kapil Sibal had said earlier that Pranab got support across party lines, citing his win in BJP-led Karnataka. Even problematic ally Mamata Banerjee called Mukherjee to congratulate him over his win and said she would attend the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday. It will take place at 11.30 am. 

Coming in after the unpopular Pratibha Patil, Mukherjee should find the move into Rashtrapati Bhavan smooth.

Pranab Mukherjee meets the media outside his residence, his first address, since he became India's 13th president.

Mukherjee says he wants to express his deep gratitude and appreciation and "thanks the people of this great country by electing him to this high office."

He said he had the privilege of visiting almost all the state capitals, but meetings were limited to members of the electoral colleges. But during those visits, he felt the love and appreciation of the ordinary people. He said he was overwhelmed by their warmth and thought it was remarkable.

Amid applause and cheers, a smiling Pranab Mukherjee added that he has received much more from the people of this great coutnry, from Parliament, in the nearly five decades of public life, that he has given.

He says he heard NDA candidate Purno Sangma congratulating him on TV and said he would like to reciprocate Sangma's good wishes. "I wish him well," Pranab said.

West Bengal, Mukherjee's home state voted overwhelmingly in his favour giving him 275 of the 294 votes with a value of 41525. CPI and RSP had abstained from voting. Sangma polled three votes with a value of 453. Four votes were invalid.

Mithai shops must be running out of sandesh.

Also read: When Pranab wished to be re-born as one of Prez's horses

Outgoing president Pratibha Patil, apparently will not be missed... On twitter...

@gkhamba Pratibha Patil looked like the kind of aunty who would never return your cricket ball if you knocked it inside her house

@fakingnewsPranab Mukherjee will soon move into Rashtrapati Bhavan. Right now Pratibha Patil is changing all the working tube-lights with fused ones.

@pranavsapra With a new President coming in Pratibha Patil will go back to being nothing from being nothing.

@pranavsapra That awkward moment when Pranab Mukherjee enters Rashtrapati Bhavan to see that Pratibha Patil took all the furniture and equipment with her

Kapil Sibal reacting to the cross-voting in Karnataka, says that it shows exactly how acceptable Pranab Mukhejee is as a candidate.

Truly dismal performance by the NDA. Sangma's vote count stands at 294,372 as against Mukherjee's 622,619.

There has been cross-voting in both Gujarat and Karnataka.BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the party would probe the incident of cross voting and a formal inquiry and action would be taken.

He admitted that there may have been problems in Karnataka, but the party stands united behind Jagdish Shettar. 

Sangma at the press meet a a few minutes ago alleged that the UPA persuaded parties through inducements and it was necessary to bring about a code of conduct. 

Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have reached Pranab Mukherjee's residence as has Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar.
And now, the PM arrives at Mr Mukherjee's residence as well.

PA Sangma gives his thanksgiving speech for those who gave him support  -- particularly Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa and Orissa CM Navin Patnaik -- who were the first to nominate his candidature.

"I wish Pranab Mukherjee success. I may have lost the elections, but India has lost the opportunity to elect a tribal to the highest post in the country. The poll process has been partisan and a code of conduct is needed," says Sangma.

His vote count stands at 257466.

Referring to the overwhelming support for Pranab in north-east states, Sangma says the people of north-east are no more capable of standing on their feet. The people are totally dependent on the Centre, says Sangma. 

Reactions to Pranab Mukherjee's win:

DMK's TR Baalu: Pranab will be missed in Parliament and UPA

TMC's Mamata Banerjee: Calls Pranab and congratulates him on his win. It may recollected that Mamata Banerjee was dead against supporting Pranab's nomination and conceded her support only at the very end saying she had no alternative, but it was a painful decision. 

Home minister P Chidambaram: I thank allies and other parties for their support.

Times Now says Pranab Mukherjee has called the Thackerays to thank them for their support.

India's President elect Pranab Mukherjee "thanks everyone for their support".

While Pranab has notched up 70 per cent of votes, the value of his votes so far is 560,368 as against Sangma's 240,487.

Meanwhile, in West Bengal's Mirati village, Pranab's ancestral home, joyous residents danced to the beats of 'dhaks' and burst firecrackers. 'Amder gorbo Pranab Babu' (Pranab Babu is our pride) said one of the banners put up near the gates of the house, where he conducts Durga Puja every year.

Pranab's home, Mukherjee Bhavan, will be decorated with lights and a
community feast held tonight in the honour of Miriti's most celebrated son.
At Kirnahar, where Mukherjee's sister Annapurna Banerjee and her family stay and he puts up during his visits, arrangements were complete to light up the house with candles and lamps.

Pranab Mukherjee's election to the President's office today comes as a fitting finale for the 77-year-old Congressman from West Bengal, till recently the troubleshooter of UPA, a task he has handled for last eight years.

Not a lawyer by training but considered an expert in the working of the Constitution and governance, he was ever seen as the perennial 'No 2' in government.

Mukherjee was a utility man from the days of Indira Gandhi, when he was the powerful Minister of State for Revenue during the Emergency, and later as Finance Minister in the 80s.

His rise had been steady and such valuable was his contribution to government that his nomination as a Presidential candidate came after a huge dilemma for Congress party, which heads the UPA coalition that has moved from crisis to crisis in the last eight years.

The veteran leader, known for his photographic memory, had become a Rajya Sabha member for the first time in 1969.

Subramanian Swamy's take on the Pranab's magnificent win.

@Swamy39Are not Gujarat, MP, Chattisgarh, Orissa, HP , etc.,not part of India? Congis celebrating only in parts of India? Like Chiang Kai shek did?
@Swamy39we are fighters.For fighters for dharma there is always hope.

Congratulations would have been nice...

Pranab Mukherjee will be sworn in as the 13th President of India on July 5.

All through the day Congress leaders and UPA allies have been making a beeline for Mukherjee's home. At 3 pm today, Congress leader from Jammu and Kashmir Saifuddin Soz and Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay reached Mukherjee's residence. Sahay said that Mukherjee's presence in Parliament would be sorely missed by him and others. When asked as to who would take his place in Parliament, Sahay quipped, "Only time will tell."

DMK leader T R Baalu also reached Mukherjee's residence after which two of the senior-most Congress Cabinet Ministers A K Antony and P Chidambaram too arrived there. While supporters of Mukherjee began to wait for arrival of
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Christy Fernandes, the secretary to the outgoing President Pratibha Patil, also dropped in to greet Mukherjee.

Mukherjee got a vote value of 5,58,194, crossing the required half-way mark of 5,25,140 after counting of votes in half the states was over. At the end of counting in Maharashtra, the 15th of the 30 states, Sangma got 2,39,966 vote value. 

Pranab Mukherjee's elder sister Annapoorna Devi says that she is extremely happy at her brother's win and that she will not be going to Rashtrapati Bhavan, Pranab will be coming to meet her. "Things will not change just because he has become president," she says firmly.

Earlier, Rediff.com caught up with Pranab Mukherjee's son, Abhijit Mukherjee, a Congress Member of Legislative Assembly who won from Birbhum's Nalhati constituency, over the phone on Sunday afternoon. Read ('It is a great moment in Baba's life')

In the 230-member BJP dominated Madhya Pradesh Assembly Mukherjee got 73 votes while Sangma got 156. Four votes were invalid.

What that really means is that Sangma can notch up his fourth state win in what was a clean sweep for Pranab. Moot point is that Mukherjee has got the number of votes to be the next President of India.

The halfway mark is down as over 50,000 votes are invalid. Pranab has crossed the 558064 in vote value and is set to be India's next president. Chidambaram is inside Pranab's home with an invitation for the banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sangma has notched a truly dismal vote value of 240783 so far.

In Kerala, all votes go to Pranab Mukherjee. Not a single vote for PA Sangma! 

So far Pranab has got 518,689 and needs 25,000 more votes to win. However, this means Pranab has crossed the halfway mark and becomes the 14th President of India.

Counting in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal remains.

Home minister P Chidambaram has reached Pranab Mukherjee's residence with what is believed to be an invitation letter.

Pranab Mukherjee continues his lead against Sangma winning Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Jharkhand: Pranab got 60 votes, Sangma got 20.

Jammu and Kashmir: Pranab got 68 votes, Sangma got 15

Himachal Pradesh: Pranab got 44 votes to Sangma's 23 votes.

In Karnataka, three votes were invalid and one MLA did not vote.

Just in: In a shocker for the BJP in Karnataka, Pranab Mukherjee gets 117 in vote value to PA Sangma's 103. This cross-voting has ensured 4,90.278 votes in his favour, just 30,000 more needed.

Since the morning,  No 13 Talkatora Road in New Delhi has been getting a lot of visitors. Congress party leader from Madhya Pradesh Suresh Pachauri reached Mukherjee's residence after Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot's visit. 

Mukherjee also received partyman Manas Bhuyian, who is a minister in his home state of West Bengal. By the afternoon more visitors congregated at his residence with former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and Maharashtra Congress leader Patang Rao Kadam being the known faces among them. "I have come here to congratulate and have sweets," Jogi quipped while entering Mukherjee's residential compound.

Outside the premises, Congress workers were distributing sweets and a seven-member band rendered the atmosphere festive with its celebratory music. A sizeable contingent of security and police officers were posted at Mukherjee's compound due to high movement of VIPs.

Pranab Mukherjee's vote count is now 464,391. He needs 50,000 more votes to win. That is 4.5 lakh in total vote value.

Congress leader and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit summed up Pranab Mukherjee's easy win saying he would be "one the wisest Presidents" that India has had even as she expressed her amazement at how people from various political parties voted for him.

"He'll be a wise President not being a political President or administrative President but because he has so many years of experience in both governance and working within the party," Dikshit said.

With all Congress MLAs and MPs across the country voting for Mukherjee, Dikshit said those from outside the party had also extended their support to him. "What has been really amazing is the fact that those who do not belong to the Congress and those who are independent or belong to other parties, even they came across and supported Pranab Mukherjee because of the stature he enjoys, the respect he has," she said.

Celebrations have begun at United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee native village Mirati in Birbhum district of West Bengal ahead of the formal declaration of the 2012 presidential poll results.

People were seen singing, dancing and celebrating. Mukherjee's election to the office of the President of India will bring an end the lament of Bengalis of not seeing a local boy occupying the highest constitutional post of the country.

Mukherjee, often referred to as the best Prime Minister India never had, began his political career in 1969 and has served in every Congress cabinet since Indira Gandhi was prime minister.

Read the report on rediff.com.

More results coming in...

In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, Mukherjee got 53 while Sangma received 29 voes. Eight votes were invalid. In terms of vote value, Mukherjee got 5936 and Sangma got 3248.

In the BJP-ruled 182-member Gujarat Assembly,  Mukherjee got 59 votes and Sangma 123 votes. In terms of vote value, Mukherjee got 8673 while Sangma got 18,081.

Pranab Mukherjee presently has 4,58,322 votes in his favour while Sangma trails far behind at 1,91,785. Rashtrapati Bhavan gets ready to roll out the red carpet for Mr Mukherjee.

Goa and Chhattisgarh have emerged facesavers for PA Sangma where he is leading over Pranab Mukherjee.

In the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly, Pranab Mukherjee has got 39 votes, while Sangma won 50. One vote was invalid. In terms of vote value, Pranab got 5,031 while Sangma got 6,450.

In the 40-member Goa Assembly, Mukherjee got 9 votes and Sangma 31. In vote value, this means Mukherjee got 180 while Sangma got 621.

On the sidelines, the Shiromani Akalai Dal prophecy runs thus: The presidential poll exposes the rift in the UPA, Mamata and DMK will return to NDA. That's a wait and watch...

Celebrations have begun in Delhi, outside Pranab Mukherjee's No 13 Talkatora Road residence and at his hometown, Mirati village in Birbhum district of West Bengal.

Rajiv Shukla leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, says Pranab Mukherjee will get more than 7 lakh votes. Pranab Mukherjee has so far got 438552 votes and needs 90,000 more to win.

Results from the states, all showing a massive victory for Pranab Mukherjee:

In Assam, of the 125 votes, Pranab gets 110, Sangma gets 13
In Arunachal Pradesh, Pranab gets 54, Sangma gets 2 .
In Bihar, of the 240 votes, Pranab gets 146, Sangma gets 90
In Andhra Pradesh, Pranab gets 182, Sangma gets 3.

In terms of vote value, Mukherjee has got 12,760, while Sangma has got 1,508.

For another perspective, read Subir Roy's column on Rediff.com. Pranab Mukherjee's likely clear and impressive victory in the presidential poll will in no way reverse the perceptible decline of the Congress.

The way Pranab Mukherjee has been able to sew up his election as the next President of India says volumes about the nature of politics that will likely run the country over the next several years. With this kind of politics in control, is there a reasonable chance that India will be run better than it has been in the last few years?

Read

Just how important was Pranab Mukherjee in the Cabinet? Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, not one to mince words, says the Opposition should be happy with Pranab Mukherjee as president because the government will become a "lame duck".  Read the report on rediff.com.

Meanwhile, rainfall across the country over the next 10 days will be crucial to pulling India away from the edge of drought, weather scientists tracking the monsoon's progress say.India Meteorological Department (IMD) figures today showed that more than 60 per cent of India's land area has received deficient or scanty rainfall since the start of the wet season in early June. Read the Telegraph report.

In Arunachal Pradesh 96 per cent of votes; in Andhra Pradesh it's 98 per cent. Counting of the MLA votes to begin soon. The MLA's vote is variable, depending on the population of the state he comes from. In Arunachal Pradesh, Pranab got 54 of the 59 votes polled. The vote value corresponded to 432 for Mukherjee, while it was 16 for Sangma. Three votes were invalid.

The dhakis are out in Birbhum, West Bengal, Pranab Mukherjee's hometown.

The name of the cook at Pranab Mukherjee's ancestral home is Phoring Mondol. Phoring in Bengali means grasshopper. Incidentally, Mukherjee's daak naam (needs no translation after Kahaani) is Poltu.

So, all MP votes have been counted, with Pranab Mukherjee getting 72 per cent of the votes (527 out of 748). Congress workers in the capital and in West Bengal (Pranab will become India's first Bengali president) were already distributing sweets well-ahead of the MP vote results. Pranab Mukherjee is said to have a sweet tooth and loves Bengali mishti.

Ramesh Srivats @rameshsrivats Poor PA Sangma. He's currently looking at his phone bill and regretting all this.

Ramesh Srivats @rameshsrivats How many times did Mulayam Singh Yadav vote?

Nine votes for Pranab and six for Sangma were declared invalid. The invalidity of the votes are being contested by representatives of Pranab Mukherjee and PA Sangma. The counting will get underway only after the segregation of all the votes is complete.

One of the invalid votes for Pranab, is of course, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's vote. Yadav's vote was declared invalid by the Election Commission since he had violated the code of secrecy by revealing his vote. Yadav said he had mistakenly voted for Sangma and then torn the ballot paper. He then voted for Pranab Mukherjee, but the vote was declared invalid. In a sense, he has at least kept his promise to Mamata Banerjee.

So, Pranab Mukherjee has got the overwhelming support of Parliamentarians in the President's election securing a vote value of 3,73,116.

Mukherjee's lone rival P A Sangma, supported by some opposition parties including BJP, managed to get a vote value of only 1,45,848 in the counting of votes which is in progress at Parliament House, official sources said.

A total of 748 MPs voted in the election on July 19. Of the total votes, Mukherjee got 527 votes while Sangma got 206. Fifteen votes including that of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were invalid.

Pranab Mukherjee gets majority of vote value among MPs in the President's election. Out of 748 votes counted, 15 are invalid. Sangma gets 206 votes with a value of 145848. Pranab Mukherjee gets 527 votes with a value of 373116.

Home Minister P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee's representatives -- Union Ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal, Rajeev Shukla, V Narayanasamy and Paban Singh Ghatowar and Sangma's representatives Satyapal Jain and B Mahtab were present at the counting venue.

UPA managers said the estimated total value of the votes cast was 10,50,279 and Mukherjee would be deemed elected the moment the value of votes cast in his favour crosses 5,25,140.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to drive down to Mukherjee's residence to congratulate him soon after the results are announced by Returning Officer V K Agnihotri.

Agnihotri will submit the report to the Election Commission. Chief Election Commissioner V Sampath will then call on the President-elect to hand over the election certificate.

Meanwhile, Delhi CM Sheila Dixit tells CNN IBN that the choice of the UPA candidate (Pranab Mukherjee) is really outstanding. She says that Pranab Mukherjee is an outstanding leader. 

PA Sangma who is not expected to get more than 30 per cent of votes has acknowledged earlier that the numbers are weighted against him.

He has said that he is indeed counting on a miracle to put him ahead of Mukherjee. In fact, he had gone out on a limb meeting chief ministers across the country and heads of political parties asking to be nominated for the presidential post.

Once the nomination was confirmed by the BJP, he then went on a state-by-state visit asking to be voted for the post and had appealed to MPs and MLAs from the ruling coalition to vote according to their "conscience".

Miracles, as Pranab Mukherjee, said earlier, are unlikely to happen.

The election results will be announced by the Rajya Sabha secretary general. That should happens sometime around 4 pm. 

As we wait for the results to come in, some facts on the Rashtrapati Bhavan which will soon become Pranab Mukherjee's home. Rashtrapati Bhavan has four floors with 340 rooms and is built on a floor area of 200,000 square feet and faces east.

The British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens, a major member of the city-planning process, was given the primary architectural responsibility of the building the Rashtrapati Bhavan as the Viceroy's home in British India.

At least 300 families were evicted under the 1894 Land Acquisition Act from Raisina and Malcha villages, thus clearing about 4,000 acres to begin the construction the Viceroys House on Raisina Hill.

We know Pranab-da left a troubled legacy for Manmohan Sing to fix -- including the retrospective Vodafone legislation, and the General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR), which have so riled investors.But did he also leave several financial time-bombs that will have to be defused?

Read more on Firstpost.com

Counting still on for Presidential polls. The UPA expects Pranab to get a 72 per cent lead over PA Sangma. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has just met Mr Mukherjee and says Pranabda is very happy and in a good mood. Explaining his visit, Gehlot says that once Pranab becomes president it will be difficult to meet him.  

The Sangma camp has even indicated that they are all set to move the Supreme Court in the next few days to file an election petition against Mr. Mukherjee, if he is elected the winner.

As per the law, the election petition can be filed by the candidate or at least 20 electors within 30 days of the publication of the result in the gazette.

The Sangma camp contends that Mukherjee had not resigned from the chairmanship of the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, at the time of filing of his nomination. The post was an "office of profit' and candidates in the Presidential election were not supposed to hold such an office.

The Sangma camp had challenged this before the Returning Officer (RO) and the Election Commission (EC), but both had turned down their plea.

Can one think of a more unworthy candidate for the President of India than PA Sangma? Sadly, one can, and we don't have to search further than the present incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

But whatever the views of Pratibha Patil's past record, and her family entourages on foreign trips in the last few years, she did conduct herself with a certain dignity. You really cannot say that of Sangma: well before the BJP decided to support him, he was rushing around here and there with folded hands, soliciting support for himsel.

More of that on Firstpost.com

Rajya Sabha officials, who have been entrusted with the conduct of the presidential poll, said all the ballot boxes from the states have  reached Parliament House, where a strong room for storing them had been prepared.

About 95% of the total 4,896 electors - 776 MPs and 4,120 assembly members - exercised their franchise at the polling centres set up at Parliament House and 30 other state and union territories with assemblies.

Mukherjee is expected to bag 735,000 of the 1,097,000 votes, bagging the support of the United Progressive Alliance constituents such as the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool  Congress, DMK, and National Conference, apart from supporting parties such as the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and others.

He also got the support of opposition National Democratic Alliance members such as the Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal-United and other smaller parties such as the YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh.

Famously just five-feet tall, Pranab Mukherjee -- who uses a stool to be seen over podiums -- has long been Congress's firefighter, leaving many wondering how the party will cope without its "political Mr Fixit.

"But analysts say he may be called on to play an even more influential role as President. Under the Constitution, the Prime Minister wields most of the executive power but the President can play a vital part in forming governments.

Mukherjee, who resigned as finance minister to seek the presidency, could "be the kingmaker," said analyst TK Tripathi.

With the upsurge of regional parties in an increasingly fractious political landscape and the possibility of a hung Parliament after the 2014 elections, he could have a pivotal role in deciding the next government, analysts say.

"It's in this turbulent scenario Mukherjee as a President will be able to steer the ship of the state. He's a troubleshooter," said Sanjay Kumar, analyst at India's Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.

Victory of Pranab Mukherjee, the ruling UPA's candidate for the Presidential poll held on Thursday, is a foregone conclusion, but the final outcome will be announced after counting of the ballots at Parliament House.

The counting of votes began amidst tight security in Parliament House in the presence of authorized representatives of both Mukherjee and Sangma.

Meanwhile, the BJP seems to have accepted defeat with Sudheedra Kulkarni admitting that it was a a foregone conclusion that Pranab Mukherjee would win the polls today.

Kulkarni told Times Now that "Just because we voted against Pranab, does not mean we have any less regard for Pranab-da. He is a great leader." 

Kulkarni added the decision to back Sangma was based on getting the NDA together on a single platform. He said he hoped Pranab Mukherjee would make for a good President, in what looked to be an difficult time for the country.

All the ballot boxes from the states had reached Parliament House yesterday and were kept in a strong room.

Mukherjee appears set to win the election comfortably with UPA managers confident that he would bag over seven lakh of vote value of the total votes polled. The UPA constituents and its key supporting parties like SP, BSP, RJD and others had supported Mukherjee.

Besides, he also got the support of opposition parties like Shiv Sena and JD(U). BJP-backed Sangma is expected to garner a vote value of around three lakh.

Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmistha tells NDTV that her father would give a new dimension to the office of President of India with his experience and his personal rapport with political leaders that cut across party lines."I think he has done justice to the offices he has held.

He has fulfilled his duties and responsibilities to the best of his ability in whatever he has done. I'm sure he will give a new dimension to the office of the president of India," she told NDTV.

Read more

The votes will be counted in six batches, with each batch being overseen by a group of representatives from both candidates. The votes of MPs will be counted first, followed by the counting of state level votes in alphabetical order.

Counting of votes for the 14th Presidential election began here today in which UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee has a clear edge over BJP-backed Purno Sangma.

Counting of ballots began amidst tight security in Parliament House here in the presence of authorised representatives of both Mukherjee and Sangma. The ballot boxes of votes cast in Parliament House were taken up first for counting after which those from the states will be opened.

Authorised representatives inspected the seals of the ballot boxes and the counting began after ascertaining that they were not tampered with. As many as 95 per cent of the 4,896 electors -- 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs -- had exercised their franchise on Thursday at the polling centres set up in Parliament House and 30 other states and Union territories with assemblies.

All the ballot boxes from the states had reached Parliament House yesterday and were kept in a strong room.

In Bengal, early celebrations have already begun. Annapoorna Mukherjee, Pranab's sister tells a CNN IBN reporter that her dreams have come true.

President Pratibha Patil won 6,38,116 votes against Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

And some quick facts: The President's salary is Rs 1,50,000 but the upkeep of the President costs the exchequer Rs 2.2 crore per annum.

Apart from the Rashtrapati Bhavan the president has two other official residences, Rashtrapati Nilayam in Hyderabad and Retreat Building in Shimla. 

An estimated 8 lakh votes have been cast in the elections, with Pranab Mukherjee  expecting around 5.6 lakh votes. Pranab will need 5,48,507 votes to be elected as the President.

On voting day, July 19, Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's vote was declared invalid by the Election Commission since he had violated the code of secrecy by revealing his vote. Yadav said he had mistakenly voted for Sangma and then torn the ballot paper. He then voted for Pranab Mukherjee, but the vote was declated invalid.

Since each MP'S vote equals 708 votes, that's a considerable loss. A BJP MLA from Mahuva in Gujarat, openly voted for Pranab. He said he was doing so because he was unhappy with Narendra Modi's government.

The poll results are expected late this afternoon.
Read TVR Shenoy's column on rediff.com: Unlike Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and Giani Zail Singh, one hopes Pranab Mukherjeewill do a better job when asked to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution', says T V R Shenoy. 

India's members of Parliament and legislative assemblies on July 19 cast their vote to elect the nation's new President. According to the Election Commission, this is how the President of India is elected.

The electoral college comprises of MPs and MLAs. A total of 776 MPs (not including the ones who are nominated) are eligible to vote and 4120 MLAs are can vote as well.

One MP's vote is the equalivalent of 708 votes, while an MLA's vote is variable, depending on the population of the state he comes from.

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The counting of votes will take place in Room No.63 of Parliament House from 11 am. The PM will be visiting Pranab Mukherjee's house to congratulate him after 2 pm. In the evening outgoing President Pratibha Patil will host a dinner for Pranab Mukherjee which will be attended by the PM as well. President Patil's term ends on July 25.

Good morning. The counting and thereafter, the results of the Presidential elections are due today. The contest, if you can call it that, is between UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee and BJP-backed PA Sangma. Unless there is a miracle, and as Pranab-da famously said in the run-up to the elections, that he doesn't believe in miracles, India's next president will be former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee is backed by the allies of the UPA government, as well as Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajawadi Party, Mayawati's BSP, the BJD and the Shiv Sena. At the very last moment, Mamata Banerjee's TMC also lent support -- albeit a 'painful' decision.

Sangma, on the other hand, is backed by the BJP, Jayalalithaa's AIADMK, Naveen Patnaik's BJD and Punjab's ruling party the SAD.