Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday cast his vote in India's 15th presidential election. The CM voted from Chennai after having tested positive for Covid-19 and being hospitalised last week. He came straight to Fort St George campus after he was discharged from Kauvery Hospital today morning, reported news agency PTI.
Lawmakers across the country began voting for a new president this morning. Stalin and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, as well as its allies, are backing the opposition choice - former union minister Yashwant Sinha.
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Sinha faces ex-Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu, the pick of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. Murmu is widely expected to win the election, having already (on paper) secured over 60 per cent of the votes. Apart from the BJP, she is backed by the Biju Janata Dal from her home state of Odisha and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
{{/usCountry}}Sinha faces ex-Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu, the pick of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. Murmu is widely expected to win the election, having already (on paper) secured over 60 per cent of the votes. Apart from the BJP, she is backed by the Biju Janata Dal from her home state of Odisha and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
{{/usCountry}}Murmu - who served as governor of Jharkhand between 2015 and 2021 - is set to become the first tribal community leader to be the president of India. She will also become only the second woman to become India's constitutional head of state.
Yashwant Sinha was chosen by the opposition after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference leader and former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah, and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, turned down nomination invitations.
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Last week, Stalin tweeted to confirm he had tested positive for Covid-19. He said he got himself tested after feeling fatigued and urged his close contacts to also get tested.
On Tuesday, Stalin was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai for 'investigation and observation' of Covid-related symptoms.
The city's Kauvery Hospital on Thursday said he was 'recovering well' and is in 'good health'.
The hospital said medical exams had been completed and medication prescribed per treatment protocols. "The chief minister is recovering well and is in good health. He has been advised to rest for a few more days," the hospital said.