New Delhi: It is advantage Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA’s candidate, as Indian lawmakers on Thursday voted to elect the country’s 13th President, recording a massive turnout that could be anywhere close to 95 per cent.
Mukherjee was in a direct contest with Opposition-backed PA Sangma in the elections for which polling that began at 10 am and ended at 5 pm in Parliament House here and in assembly complexes in the states and union territories with legislatures.
The counting will take place on Sunday when the winner of the contest will be known, though it is almost clear that Mukherjee will romp home with a massive 735,000 of the 10,97,000 votes from among 4,896 electors — 776 MPs and 4,120 assembly members.
At the end of the voting, the returning officer and Rajya Sabha Secretary General VK Agnihotri told reporters that ‘the polling was conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner in all the designated places for voting’.
In Parliament House, where room number 63 on the first floor was the designated polling centre, 683 of the 699 MPs cast their ballots, while another eight members of legislative assemblies, who were permitted to vote here, too participated in the voting.
“This accounts for 96.06 per cent voting in Parliament House,” Agnihotri said.
From among the state assemblies, information was available immediately from only 22, while details from another eight were awaited, he added.
“Of the 4,112 MLAs and 77 MPs, who were allowed to vote in the states, 2,997 MLAs and 40 MPs in 22 states cast their ballots. That makes it 72 percent voting from the states for which information is available,” Agnihotri said.
MPs and MLAs queued up in Parliament House and state assembly buildings, right outside the polling booths, even before the voting began and there was a steady flow of electors throughout the day.
Bapi Raju Kanumuri, Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh, was the first MP to vote in Parliament House.
Mukherjee, who has a clear edge over opposition-favoured Sangma, came to vote shortly after 11 am. Congress MPs were seen greeting him.
Prime Minister Dr 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.
Sangma said he was still ‘hopeful’ despite the numbers being stacked against him.
“Look at my face, I am hopeful,” Sangma told reporters. He is expected to bag about 313,000 votes, being supported by Bharatiya Janata Party, AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal, Shiromani Akali Dal and Asom Gana Parishad. (IANS)