Cross-voting in several states boosts Kovind’s victory margin
Polling data released by the returning officer indicate several instances of cross-voting in the presidential election.
The Congress leadership suspects that Shankarsinh Vaghela and his supporters in Gujarat voted for Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA candidate. The party has advised its legislators and workers to keep away from the show of strength planned by Vaghela’s supporters to mark his birthday on Friday.
There was also cross-voting in favour of Kovind in Goa, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Tripura. BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, Kovind’s election manager, claimed that 116 lawmakers from Opposition parties, including the Congress, appeared to have voted for the NDA candidate. As many as 30 of them were members of Parliament, he said.
The good news for the Congress was from Rajasthan, where Opposition candidate Meira Kumar received 34 votes though the party has only 24 legislators in the 200-member House. Assembly elections are due in Rajasthan at the end of 2018. Kovind received 166 votes against BJP’s 161 legislators, which suggests most of the votes of smaller parties and independents went to the Congress.
In Bihar, the voting was on expected lines, with legislators of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress voting for Meira Kumar, while the Janata Dal (United), the BJP and its allies voting for Kovind.
However, Kovind received 335 votes in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP and its allies have 325 members in the 403-member Assembly. It is likely that the breakaway group led by Shivpal Yadav in the Samajwadi Party voted for Kovind.
But the result from Gujarat has rattled the Congress most. Kovind received 132 votes, 11 more than BJP’s 121 legislators in the 182-member assembly. Kumar, on the other hand, received 49 votes, though the Congress has 57 legislators. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani claimed that 11 legislators from Opposition parties voted for Kovind. There have been reports that Vaghela might quit the Congress. Assembly elections are due in Gujarat by the end of this year.
In West Bengal, Kovind bagged 11 votes when the BJP and its allies have six votes in the Assembly.
In Tripura, Kovind got seven votes. The BJP has no MLAs in the state assembly, but six sacked Trinamool Congress legislators and one rebel Congress MLA had announced before the election that they would vote for the NDA candidate.
In Maharashtra, Meira Kumar won 77 votes. A state BJP leader said given the numbers in the Assembly, she should have got 90. In Goa, Kovind should have got the 21 votes of the BJP and its allies but received 25, leading to speculation that four Congress legislators voted for him.
As for the Aam Aadmi Party, two of its four Lok Sabha members from Punjab are expected to have voted against the Opposition’s candidate. In Delhi, where the BJP has three MLAs in the 70-member Delhi assembly, Kovind received six votes.
Asked about cross-voting, Meira Kumar said: “I don’t want to use this word, and everybody has the right to vote according to his or her wish.” She didn’t get a single vote from Andhra Pradesh, while Kovind received one vote in Kerala.