Presidential poll: 3 Punjab MLAs skip voting, in Haryana 88 MLAs cast their votes

PTI

Chandigarh, July 18

Three Punjab MLAs did not turn up to vote in the presidential election on Monday, officials said.

While Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali boycotted the poll over various "unresolved" issues related to Punjab, Congress MLAs Raj Kumar Chabbewal and Hardev Singh Laadi skipped voting.

NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu is pitted against joint opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha in the poll.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in Punjab, had earlier announced that it would support Sinha in the polls.

The maximum numbers of MLAs in Punjab were expected to cast votes in favour of opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha as in the 117-member Vidhan Sabha, the AAP and the Congress have 92 and 18 legislators respectively.

The SAD has three legislators while the BJP has two, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) one and there is one Independent MLA.

In neighbouring Haryana, 88 MLAs cast their votes, Assistant Returning Officer for the polls, R K Nandal said.

Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who had cross-voted in last month's Rajya Sabha polls, said he has voted in the presidential election according to his "conscience".

Bishnoi cast his vote in Delhi.

The Jannayak Janta Party's Naina Chautala could not exercise her franchise as she was out of the country, officials said.

After the polls were over, the ballot box was kept under complete security in the strong room built in the assembly, said Nandal.

The polling was held at the Vidhan Sabha complexes here between 10 am and 5 pm, officials said.

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer S Karuna Raju said the polling went off peacefully, with 114 MLAs turning up to exercise their franchise.  No MP or MLA of other states cast their vote in the polling place of Punjab, he said.

No untoward incident was reported during the poll process, he added.

In Punjab, MLAs and ministers who cast their vote included Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, cabinet minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, Chetan Singh Jouramajra, Congress' Partap Bajwa, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Sukhjinder Randhawa and BJP's Ashwani Sharma.

Mann said he was fortunate to have voted for the second time for the presidential poll.

"Last time, I cast my vote when I was an MP. This time being an MLA, I exercised my franchise at Punjab Vidhan Sabha,” said Mann.

He further said, “If any election takes place, not only in Punjab but in the country, it is celebrated as a festival. Today, we became part of this festival.” In Haryana, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, and most other MLAs of the ruling BJP-JJP combine voted in the morning while legislators from the main opposition Congress exercised their franchise in the afternoon.

Ayali, the SAD legislator from Dakha constituency boycotted the poll and blamed the BJP-led Centre as well as the previous Congress-led government for "failing to resolve" issues related to Punjab.

With this announcement, Ayali went against his own party, which has supported Murmu.

The AAP and Congress have declared their support for Sinha while the SAD and BSP had backed Murmu.

In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the vote value of each MLA is 112.

In Haryana, the BJP has 40 MLAs while the Congress has 31, though Bishnoi had earlier turned rebel.

The JJP, an ally of the BJP, has 10 legislators while the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party, which are supporting the NDA candidate, have one MLA each.

Seven are Independents.

All the 10 Lok Sabha MPs from Haryana are from the BJP. Three of the five Rajya Sabha MPs from the state are from the BJP, one is a BJP-backed Independent while one member belongs to the Congress.

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