Presidential election: All arrangements in place, two ballot boxes sent to Lucknow

Election Commission permits five MLAs to cast their votes outside state; ballot boxes are kept under strict security in room number 54 of Vidhan Bhavan

All arrangements for the July 18 presidential election were complete and the Election Commission had sent two ballot boxes to the state capital for the voting, said Brij Bhushan Dubey, the presiding officer in Uttar Pradesh for the poll.

Equipment and other related materials for Presidential Election 2022 were brought to Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday. (ANI PHOTO)

Besides, the Election Commission had given permission for five Uttar Pradesh MLAs to cast their votes outside the state, Dubey said.

“Those ballot boxes are kept under strict security in room number 54 of the Vidhan Bhavan from where they would be moved to Tilak Hall on the voting day,” Dubey said.

He said voter slips to MLAs would be given in room number 80 of the U.P. Vidhan Sabha, which is closest to gate number 7.

“After collecting the slips, the lawmakers will cast their vote in the Tilak Hall,” Dubey said.

He added that after the voting, these ballot boxes will be sent to Delhi. All ballot boxes from other parts of the country, too, will reach the national capital ahead of the counting on July 21. The term of President Ram Nath Kovind, who hails from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, will end on July 24.

There are 403 MLAs in the U.P. assembly. All of them are voters in the presidential polls in which BJP-led NDA candidate and former Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu is up against opposition candidate former Union minister Yashwant Sinha.

“Each MLA vote carries a value of 208,” said Dubey who added that arrangements are made being for lawmakers to cast their vote at the Tilak Hall of the U.P. assembly building.

Dubey said five MLAs have opted to vote outside Lucknow.

“Lawmaker Neel Ratan Patel will cast his vote in Thiruvananthapuram while four others have been granted permission by EC to vote in Parliament. They are Mukesh Choudhary, Pradeep Kumar Singh, Zia-Ur-Rehman and Brij Bhushan Rajput,” he said. These MLAs include three from BJP and one each from the SP and the RLD.

Apart from MLAs, the MPs also vote in these elections.

Rajya Sabha secretary general PC Mody is the returning officer for these presidential polls.

The opposition lies divided in U.P. on the presidential polls. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) chief Raghuraj Pratap Singh Raja Bhaiya and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief Shivpal Yadav have announced their support to Murmu.

The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an ally of the main opposition Samajwadi Party, hasn’t yet decided which way its six MLAs will vote.