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Advantage Pranab as lawmakers vote to elect
new president
Thursday July 19, 2012 05:51:08 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Indian
lawmakers Thursday voted to elect a new president in what is a
direct contest between ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
candidate Pranab Mukherjee, holding a clear winning edge, and
opposition-backed P.A. Sangma.
Polling to choose the 13th president started simultaneously at the
national and state capitals.
More than 650 votes had been cast till 1 p.m., Minister of State
for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat said.
MPs were seen queuing up in Parliament House outside the polling
booth in Room No 63 even before the voting began at 10 a.m.
Nearly 700 MPs and eight state legislators were expected to
participate in the exercise in Parliament House.
Polling began on a brisk note with Bapi Raju Kanumuri, the
Congress MP from Narsapuram in Andhra Pradesh, being the first MP
to vote.
"My blessings are with Pranabda. I was the first to vote,"
Kanumuri told IANS as he came out of the polling station.
DMK's M.K. Alagiri, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member Bhartruhari
Mahtab and Congress' Pratap Singh Bajwa were among the early
voters. L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitley and Murli Manohar Joshi of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also voted.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Mayawati and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya
Bachhan were among the early women voters.
As voting picked up, many MPs, including women, were seen standing
in the queue to vote.
Mukherjee, who has a clear edge over opposition-favoured Sangma,
came to vote shortly after 11 a.m. Congress MPs were seen greeting
him.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi
accompanied Mukherjee as the leaders cast their ballot one after
the other amid camera flashlights.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi also voted shortly after.
The leaders didn't speak to the media but waved towards a battery
of reporters covering the event.
Mukherjee also enjoys enjoys the support of the Samajwadi Party
(SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
BJP-led NDA members Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Shiv Sena have
also extended their support to the former finance minister besides
the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Forward Bloc.
The Communist Party of India, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and
Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) have said their MPs and
legislators will abstain from voting.
Sangma, a member of the Meghalaya assembly, said he was still
"hopeful" despite the numbers being stacked against him.
"Look at my face, I am hopeful," Sangma told reporters.
Voting was also under way in all states for assembly members who
along with Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha MPs together make up
India's electoral college.
The college has 4,120 assembly members and 776 members of
parliament.
Polling will continue till 5 p.m. The votes will be counted
Sunday, three days before President Pratibha Patil's five-year
tenure ends.
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