Mumbai, Jul 18 (IANS): Polling got underway for the President of India elections in which the NDA's Draupadi Murmu and the Opposition's Yashwant Sinha are pitted against each other, here on Monday.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar, legislators, former ministers and others queued up to cast their vote for the Presidential polls.

Soon after casting his vote, Shinde declared that Murmu would sweep the elections from Maharashtra bagging more than 200 votes of the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party, plus independents and smaller parties.

State BJP President Chandrakant Patil, senior leaders like Ashish Shelar, Girish Mahajan and others endorsed the CM's view and said this time, the next President would get a record support from this state.

The polling will continue till 5 p.m. this evening with a steady stream of the electoral college consisting legislators from all parties queuing up to cast their votes at the Vidhan Bhavan.

The BJP, Shinde's group of 40 MLAs and their supporters, plus the Shiv Sena and its allies, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and other smaller parties have expressed support to Murmu, as already announced.

The Opposition Nationalist Congress Party, Congress, Samajwadi Party and other allies or smaller parties, shall vote in favour of Sinha.