Droupadi Murmuย has opened up a sizeable lead over fellow presidential hopefulย Yashwant Sinhaย after the first round of counting. Murmu, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s nominee to succeed presidentย Ram Nath Kovindย secured 540 votes from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs. Sinha – the opposition front candidate – managed 208. 15 votes were found to be invalid.
