Kovind, Meira in direct contest for president

The stage is set for a direct contest between the ruling NDA's presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind and the opposition-backed Meira Kumar for the country's top constitutional post.
Today was the last day for withdrawal of nominations for the presidential election scheduled for July 17.
Barring Kovind and opposition candidate Kumar, the nominations of over 90 other candidates who wanted to be in the race for the post of president have been rejected during the scrutiny process.
Members of Parliament will cast their votes using green- coloured ballot papers, while MLAs who vote in the presidential election will used pink-coloured ballots.

The process of printing ballot papers will begin tomorrow. The different colours of the papers will help the returning officer count the votes based on the value.
Total value of the electoral college is 10,98,903.
The ballot boxes will be brought to Delhi for counting on July 20.