Vote counting for President poll today

Counting of votes will be taken up amid all certainty that UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil will become the country's first woman Head of the State.

Counting of votes for the Presidential poll will be taken up on Saturday amid all certainty that UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil will become the country's first woman Head of the State.

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The counting of ballots, polled on Thursday to elect a successor to APJ Abdul Kalam, would be taken up at 11 am in Parliament House and within two to three hours the process is likely to be completed, Lok Sabha sources said on Friday.

They said sealed ballot boxes have been brought by Indian flights and have reached the high-security Parliament House complex where it will be kept under strict vigil overnight.

In Thursday's polling 682 MPs and 3,755 MLAs exercised their franchise. Seven states and union territories registered 100 per cent polling.

The election for the 13th President saw a straight contest between UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil and NDA-backed Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.