After undergoing the training at the party headquarters in New Delhi, these senior functionaries will explain the entire voting process to legislators in their respective states, BJP leaders said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday began training senior party functionaries from across states on how to cast vote in the Presidential election scheduled for July 18, party leaders aware of the details said.
After undergoing the training here at the party headquarters, these senior functionaries will explain the entire voting process to legislators in their respective states, party leaders said.
A separate training session on the same will be held for lawmakers over the weekend, they added.
The Presidential election will be held by secret ballot in accordance with a system of proportional representation as per the Constitution.
While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) has nominated former Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu, the opposition has fielded former Union minister and former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha for the poll.
At the national executive committee of the party in Hyderabad earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had specifically mentioned training the lawmakers and legislators to ensure that not a single vote goes to waste, a party functionary said, seeking anonymity.
The process of voting is explained to lawmakers and legislators in detail. In the past, there have been instances of errors that led to the vote being declared invalid. To rule out such mistakes, the party is taking no chances and ensuing proper training,” the functionary said.
Special focus will be given to first time lawmakers and legislators who have not had any chance of voting in the Presidential poll before, the functionary said.
Besides, BJP president J P Nadda is expected to host a dinner meeting with all party MPs on Saturday. Prime Minister Modi is also likely to address the Parliamentary party executive committee over the weekend, the functionary said.
A meeting of the Rajya Sabha floor leaders ahead of the Monsoon Session from Monday will also be held on Sunday. This meeting will be held at Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu’s residence, the functionary said.
Meanwhile, Modi on Wednesday called on President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kovind’s term as President of India is about to end on July 24.
The electoral college for the Presidential election comprises 543 Lok Sabha, 233 Rajya Sabha and 4,033 members of legislative assemblies. The total value of the parliamentarians’ votes is 543,200, and that of assembly members 543,231, totalling 1,086,431.
The BJP is set for a comfortable win as parties like the Shiv Sena, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) have backed Murmu’s candidature.
The NDA is also banking on support from opposition Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), a Scheduled Tribe (ST)-led party. Murmu belongs to the Santhal Tribe.
