President-elect Droupadi Murmu: Mystery over one Kerala vote

Droupadi Murmu, who won the race to the Rashtrapati Bhavan as the National Democratic Alliance candidate received an unexpected vote from Kerala and that is creating ripples in the state.

Droupadi Murmu, who won the race to the Rashtrapati Bhavan as the National Democratic Alliance candidate, received an unexpected vote from Kerala, creating ripples in the state.

Murmu was found to have received one vote from Kerala when the results of the election were announced in New Delhi on Thursday. It was expected that all the votes from Kerala would be polled to opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha, considering there is no BJP legislator in the 140-member state assembly.

Sinha had been assured support by the CPI (M)-led ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congress-headed United Democratic Front. Murmu defeated the Opposition candidate and became the country's first tribal President in what turned out as a one-sided contest. Murmu received 6,76,803 votes, while Sinha could manage 3,80,177 votes

A day after the election result, experts wonder whether the single vote that went in favour of Murmu was by mistake or deliberately done.

The state BJP unit is viewing the development positively. In fact, Kerala BJP President K Surendran said that the single vote held more value than the rest of the 139 votes polled.

He further termed the single vote as a 'positive vote' against the negative stand being taken up by the Left and Congress fronts in the state.

Not only is Murmu the first President to be born after Independence, she will also be the youngest supreme commander of the Indian armed forces. She is also the second woman to become the President after Pratibha Patil.