MPs, MLAs seal verdict for India’s 15th President

Thousands of parliamentarians and state legislators voted to elect India’s next President on Monday in a mega exercise that spanned the length of the country and was marked by drama in some state capitals where lawmakers reportedly defied party diktats

Thousands of parliamentarians and state legislators voted to elect India’s next President on Monday in a mega exercise that spanned the length of the country and was marked by drama in some state capitals where lawmakers reportedly defied party diktats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts his vote for the election of the President, at Parliament House in New Delhi. (PTI)

The National Democratic Alliance’s Droupadi Murmu holds a decisive edge over the Opposition candidate, Yashwant Sinha, in the presidential electoral college, and is almost certain to be the winner when results are announced on June 21. The President’s position is largely ceremonial but is shrouded in symbolism and prestige, and should she win, Murmu will be the first tribal woman to hold the exalted office.

In all, 4,809 MPs and MLAs were eligible to vote. The election commission announced 100% voting in 11 states and 99% overall. In Parliament, only eight MPs did not vote.

“Polling for election to the office of President of India, which is the highest elective office in the country, concluded successfully in free, fair and transparent manner at the Parliament House today and in each of the 30 places of poll in state legislative assemblies,” EC said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the voting in Delhi, where lawmakers filed into room number 63 in Parliament that was converted into a polling station – a large brown steel box with the words “Republic of India” and “Election of the President” painted on it in white ink functioning as the ballot box. Unlike usual polls in India, electronic voting machines are not used in the presidential poll, where electors mark ballot papers by hand and deposit them in ballot boxes placed in Delhi and inside state assemblies across the country.

“The kind of enthusiasm being seen for Srimati Droupadi Murmu ji as the NDA candidate, pride of the tribespeople and symbol of women’s empowerment is a clear sign that her overwhelming victory is certain,” said Union home minister Amit Shah.

From the Opposition, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda voted in Parliament. At least two lawmakers said the queues were long during the first half of the day as the Bharatiya Janata Party had urged its lawmakers to cast their vote before heading to their respective Houses. “We followed the pehle matdaan (voting) phir jalpaan (refreshments) diktat,” a lawmaker said in a lighter vein. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and power minister RK Singh showed up in personal protective equipment kits as they are unwell.

The President is elected by an electoral college comprising 776 Members of Parliament (both Houses) and 4,033 Members of the Legislative Assemblies, with a total of 4,809 votes being cast. The combined value of votes of state legislators is 543,231 and that of MPs is 543,200, a total of 1,086,431. Nominated MPs and members of the legislative council aren’t allowed to vote. Each elector is allowed a single transferable vote, and the voting is done by secret ballot. Since the anti-defection law is not applicable in the presidential election, electors are not bound to vote on party lines.

“100% voting by MLAs was reported from Chattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Puducherry, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu,” the EC statement said.

The NDA was expecting its nominee to extend her margin through cross-voting. Apart from NDA constituents, Murmu has also secured the support of the Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Akali Dal,Shiv Sena, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha – the last two breaking ranks with Opposition parties backing Sinha and giving rise to the possibility that Murmu might win with two-thirds of the vote or more.

The exercise was marked by political drama in some state capitals.

In Assam, the two main opposition parties, the All India United Democratic Front and the Congress traded charges, with the former alleging that a majority of the Congress’s 27 MLAs voted in favour of Murmu. AIUDF MLA Karimuddin Barbhuiya said 20 of 27 MLAs had cross-voted, though he furnished no such evidence to back this claim. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Debabrata Saikia told PTI that Barbhuiya’s claims were “absurd” as votes were cast through a secret ballot system. “I will not assume or speculate which of their MLAs voted for whom. That said, AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal had participated in two meetings of opposition parties in New Delhi but did not give any assurance,” he said.

In Jharkhand, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Kamlesh Singh said that he voted for Murmu and in Gujarat, another NCP lawmaker Kandhal Jadeja confessed he backed the NDA nominee.

In Odisha, Congress legislator Mohammed Moquim said that he voted for Murmu because she was “a daughter from Odisha.” I am an Odia....I went by my conscience,” said the MLA from the Cuttack Barabati constituency. Congress members SS Saluja and Taraprasad Bahinipati condemned him. “Many meetings were held and all MLAs of the party had given assurance that they would vote for Yashwant Sinha. We will bring the matter to the notice of the party high command for necessary action,” Saluja said.

Haryana Congress MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who had cross-voted in last month’s Rajya Sabha polls, also indicated that he had supported the NDA candidate. “Like Rajya Sabha, I have cast my vote in this election too as per my conscience,” he told reporters.

In Madhya Pradesh, two independent MLAs, two Bahujan Samaj Party, one Samajwadi Party candidate and one Congress lawmaker Sachin Birla, who joined the BJP a few months ago, backed Murmu. HOW DO WE KNOW

Tribal leader and Congress MLA Hiralal Alawa said, “I can’t share anything and the result will reveal the truth.” Another tribal Congress MLA Bala Bacchan said, “BJP is doing dirty politics and dividing us. We extend our support to UPA candidates only because we don’t believe in a divide and rule policy.”

In Bengal, 291 MLAs and 33 parliamentarians cast their votes amid claims and counterclaims of cross-voting by the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP, even as the two parties also attacked each other over ‘resort politics’ .

On Sunday, the BJP shifted its 69 MLAs to a five-star hotel in New Town near Kolkata. “HILARIOUS to see instead of holding MLAs of other political parties captive, BJP’s ‘RESORT POLITICS’ have backfired on them! Truly, BENGAL SHOWS THE WAY...,” tweeted TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, TMC MP. The BJP, however, hit back saying that Abhishek has an office with seven-star facilities and questioned his source of income.

Both the TMC and the BJP raised allegations of violation of Model Code of Conduct against each other even though no official complains were lodged with the state’s chief electoral officer.

TMC president and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who backed the Yashwant Sinha for the presidential position, cast her vote around 3:30pm.

In Uttar Pradesh, where 396 of the 403 MLAs cast their votes amid indications of cross-voting by the opposition Samajwadi Party and its allies in favour of NDA’s Droupadi Murmu, a war of words broke out with SP’s Akhilesh Yadav accusing his uncle Shivpal Yadav of working on the BJP’s “directions” by alleging that the opposition presidential candidate Sinha had once called SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav an “ISI agent”.

While Akhilesh is rooting for Sinha, Shivpal, who has been elected an MLA on SP ticket, has publicly announced his support for NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu.

“There was an ‘ishara’ (direction) from Delhi (by the BJP) after which a deputy chief minister tweeted an old newspaper article highlighting Sinha’s ‘ISI agent’ comment on Mulayam, and then it was circulated (by Shivpal Yadav)”, Akhilesh alleged. Shivpal, who had turned up in the assembly for the poll, told reporters that a staunch Samajwadi and a diehard follower of Mulayam Singh will never tolerate anyone terming him an ISI agent and will never vote for that person.

“Yashwant Sinha had made allegations against Netaji when he was the defence minister and Pakistan was trying to attack India, “ Shivpal said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath was the first one to cast his vote. While five MLAs chose to cast their votes out of UP, the SP’s Nahid Hasan and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party’s Abbas Ansari were conspicuous by their absence. Those aware of developments said Nahid Hasan is in jail in connection with a criminal case while a non-bailable warrant has been issued against Abbas Ansari.