Former Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind has been elected India’s 14th President, becoming the first person from the RSS to hold the office. He defeated the opposition’s candidate, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, winning close to 66% of the vote in a lopsided contest. Kovind is due to be sworn in on July 25.

Cross-voting in the states

Kovind benefited from cross-voting by legislators in four states, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, and by MPs in both houses. BJP managers estimated that he picked up around 115 MLA votes over and above what the NDA could count on in the states.

In West Bengal, BJP managers said they had gained 10 extra votes. The Trinamool Congress and the Congress each claimed that the cross-voting had come from the other’s ranks.

The vote in Parliament

• Kovind received the support of 522 MPs.
• Meira Kumar received the support of 225 MPs, although the opposition could have hoped for around 240.
• There were 21 invalid votes among MPs, and it was not possible to say precisely which side accounted for more of them.

See also: Lok Sabha members

Originally published on 21 July 2017. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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