By PTI
RANCHI: NCP MLA Kamlesh Singh on Monday took many in political circles by surprise when he announced that he voted for NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu.
Murmu, an ex-governor of Jharkhand, is up against former Hazaribag MP Yashwant Sinha, the joint candidate of non-BJP parties, including the Congress, the TMC and the NCP.
Singh said he went by his conscience call while exercising his franchise.
“Some things in life should be done in accordance with our conscience call. I have taken this decision in the interest of Jharkhand. She (Murmu) has been a governor of this state and everyone knows her conduct,” the NCP MLA stated.
Speculation was rife that several Congress MLAs have also cross-voted, but the party’s state unit resident Rajesh Thakur rubbished the conjectures.
BJP MLAs might have voted for the opposition candidate.
Congress legislators would never do so, he claimed.
Voting for the presidential poll began at 10 am continued till 5 pm.
Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said polling for the presidential elections was held peacefully.
Eighty out of 81 voters exercised their franchise here.
BJP’s ailing Sindri MLA, Indrajeet Mahto could not cast his vote as he is undergoing treatment in hospital.
“Ballot boxes have been sealed. These will be sent to Delhi on July 19,” he said.
No MP from the state cast their votes here, Kumar stated, adding that the 20 parliamentarians were scheduled to exercise their franchise in Delhi.
Both Murmu and Sinha had visited Jharkhand to seek support.
The ruling JMM, which runs a coalition government in the state with the Congress and the RJD, had initially backed Sinha only to receive flak from the tribal community to which both Murmu and the party’s executive president and Chief Minister Hemant Soren belong.
The party then pledged support for the NDA nominee.
Soren said legislators of his party have voted in line with the decision taken.
“You are aware of the party’s decision. Legislators and parliamentarians have voted accordingly,” Soren told reporters.
JMM leader and state education minister Jagarnath Mahto said he followed his party’s directions while another MLA Nalin Soren asserted that he listened to his heart, without divulging any further detail.
As many as 28 legislators of the NDA, including two of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party, reached the Assembly premises in a bus during the day to exercise their franchise.
The MLAs, under the leadership of former chief minister Babulal Marandi and AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, showed victory signs, as some of them said they were elated over the fact that Murmu, a tribal woman, was set to get elevated to the top constitutional post in a first.
“NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu will get the support of at least 65 legislators in Jharkhand under any circumstance as many Congress legislators are also going to listen to their conscience and vote for her, BJP MLA Biranchi Narayan claimed.
BJP legislators Anant Ojha and Bhanu Pratap Shahi were among the early ones to exercise the franchise.
“I was the first one to vote to elect the first citizen. It is a matter of great pride for me,” Ojha said.
Shahi said, We strongly believe Murmu will work for the betterment of the society including the poor, downtrodden and Dalits.
In the 81-member House, the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has a combined strength of 48, with the Shibu Soren-founded party alone having 30 seats in its kitty.
The BJP has 26 legislators including Babulal Marandi, the former JVM-P chief who joined the saffron camp after the 2019 assembly elections.
The vote value of each MP is 700 across the country.
MLAs in Jharkhand have a vote value of 176 each.
The JMM has three MPs in the state, the BJP 14, the Congress two and the AJSU Party one.
Murmu, having secured the support of the JMM, is expected to garner a score of 22,808 in the state and Sinha 4,392, with the backing of the Congress and the RJD.
MLA in Gujarat, Kandhal Jadeja, on Monday said he voted for Murmu.
Notably, political parties cannot issue whip to their MLAs and MPs in the presidential poll.
After voting in the Assembly complex here for the presidential election, Jadeja in a video statement said, “I cast my vote for the BJP candidate.”
The opposition has fielded former Union minister Yashwant Sinha against NDA nominee Murmu.
The Sharad Pawar-headed NCP is one of the constituents of the Congress-led opposition bloc in the country.
In 2020, the NCP had issued a show cause notice was issued by the NCP to Jadeja, the lone party MLA in Gujarat from Kutiyana seat in Porbandar, for defying the whip and cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Jadeja had defied the party whip and voted for BJP candidates instead of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls from Gujarat in 2017 and 2020.
Voting to elect the country’s 15th president was underway in the Gujarat Assembly complex in Gandhinagar from 10 am on Monday and will continue till 5 pm.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Speaker Nimaben Acharya, former CM Vijay Rupani, ex-Deputy CM Nitin Patel and Leader of Opposition Sukhram Rathva were among those who cast their votes.
RANCHI: NCP MLA Kamlesh Singh on Monday took many in political circles by surprise when he announced that he voted for NDA presidential nominee Droupadi Murmu.
Murmu, an ex-governor of Jharkhand, is up against former Hazaribag MP Yashwant Sinha, the joint candidate of non-BJP parties, including the Congress, the TMC and the NCP.
Singh said he went by his conscience call while exercising his franchise.
“Some things in life should be done in accordance with our conscience call. I have taken this decision in the interest of Jharkhand. She (Murmu) has been a governor of this state and everyone knows her conduct,” the NCP MLA stated.
Speculation was rife that several Congress MLAs have also cross-voted, but the party’s state unit resident Rajesh Thakur rubbished the conjectures.
BJP MLAs might have voted for the opposition candidate.
Congress legislators would never do so, he claimed.
Voting for the presidential poll began at 10 am continued till 5 pm.
Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said polling for the presidential elections was held peacefully.
Eighty out of 81 voters exercised their franchise here.
BJP’s ailing Sindri MLA, Indrajeet Mahto could not cast his vote as he is undergoing treatment in hospital.
“Ballot boxes have been sealed. These will be sent to Delhi on July 19,” he said.
No MP from the state cast their votes here, Kumar stated, adding that the 20 parliamentarians were scheduled to exercise their franchise in Delhi.
Both Murmu and Sinha had visited Jharkhand to seek support.
The ruling JMM, which runs a coalition government in the state with the Congress and the RJD, had initially backed Sinha only to receive flak from the tribal community to which both Murmu and the party’s executive president and Chief Minister Hemant Soren belong.
The party then pledged support for the NDA nominee.
Soren said legislators of his party have voted in line with the decision taken.
“You are aware of the party’s decision. Legislators and parliamentarians have voted accordingly,” Soren told reporters.
JMM leader and state education minister Jagarnath Mahto said he followed his party’s directions while another MLA Nalin Soren asserted that he listened to his heart, without divulging any further detail.
As many as 28 legislators of the NDA, including two of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) Party, reached the Assembly premises in a bus during the day to exercise their franchise.
The MLAs, under the leadership of former chief minister Babulal Marandi and AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahto, showed victory signs, as some of them said they were elated over the fact that Murmu, a tribal woman, was set to get elevated to the top constitutional post in a first.
“NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu will get the support of at least 65 legislators in Jharkhand under any circumstance as many Congress legislators are also going to listen to their conscience and vote for her, BJP MLA Biranchi Narayan claimed.
BJP legislators Anant Ojha and Bhanu Pratap Shahi were among the early ones to exercise the franchise.
“I was the first one to vote to elect the first citizen. It is a matter of great pride for me,” Ojha said.
Shahi said, We strongly believe Murmu will work for the betterment of the society including the poor, downtrodden and Dalits.
In the 81-member House, the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has a combined strength of 48, with the Shibu Soren-founded party alone having 30 seats in its kitty.
The BJP has 26 legislators including Babulal Marandi, the former JVM-P chief who joined the saffron camp after the 2019 assembly elections.
The vote value of each MP is 700 across the country.
MLAs in Jharkhand have a vote value of 176 each.
The JMM has three MPs in the state, the BJP 14, the Congress two and the AJSU Party one.
Murmu, having secured the support of the JMM, is expected to garner a score of 22,808 in the state and Sinha 4,392, with the backing of the Congress and the RJD.
MLA in Gujarat, Kandhal Jadeja, on Monday said he voted for Murmu.
Notably, political parties cannot issue whip to their MLAs and MPs in the presidential poll.
After voting in the Assembly complex here for the presidential election, Jadeja in a video statement said, “I cast my vote for the BJP candidate.”
The opposition has fielded former Union minister Yashwant Sinha against NDA nominee Murmu.
The Sharad Pawar-headed NCP is one of the constituents of the Congress-led opposition bloc in the country.
In 2020, the NCP had issued a show cause notice was issued by the NCP to Jadeja, the lone party MLA in Gujarat from Kutiyana seat in Porbandar, for defying the whip and cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Jadeja had defied the party whip and voted for BJP candidates instead of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls from Gujarat in 2017 and 2020.
Voting to elect the country’s 15th president was underway in the Gujarat Assembly complex in Gandhinagar from 10 am on Monday and will continue till 5 pm.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Speaker Nimaben Acharya, former CM Vijay Rupani, ex-Deputy CM Nitin Patel and Leader of Opposition Sukhram Rathva were among those who cast their votes.