Crossvoting for Kovind marks polls

An unprecedented 99 per cent voting was recorded in the presidential elections on Monday with many parties openly crossvoting in favour of NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind, whose victory was a forgone conclusion given the strong arithmetic in his favour.

“In around 9-10 states, there was 100 per cent polling while overall 99 per cent polling was reported,” said the returning officer, Lok Sabha secretary-general Anup Mishra.

While six Trinamul MLAs from Tripura voted in favour of Mr Kovind, Samajwadi Party’s Shivpal Yadav said that a section of SP MLAs and MPs had also voted in favour of the NDA nominee after instructions from party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. A section of AAP MLAs and MPs are also said to have voted in favour of Mr Kovind despite Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal supporting the Opposition presidential candidate, Ms Meira Kumar. BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma claimed at least “10-12 AAP MLAs” had voted for Mr Kovind.

BJP’s Gujarat MLA Nalin Kotadia voted for Ms Kumar over the Patidar agitation issue.

The NCP, meanwhile, denied reports that some of its MLAs and MPs had cross-voted, and asserted that the party supported Ms Kumar. “The rumours that NCP MPs and MLAs are voting for Mr Kovind are false. We are voting for Meira Kumar,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

The states/UTs which recorded 100 per cent voting include Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Nagaland and Puducherry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed hope that the “growing stronger together” spirit of the GST will bring renewed enthusiasm to Parliament proceedings and that political parties will engage in high standard of debate and provide value addition during the Monsoon session.

“Whenever political parties and the Government take decisions keeping in mind the national interest, it shows their commitment

Mr Modi was seen walking up to Opposition benches and exchanged pleasantries with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav towards the larger public good,” Mr Modi said.

“It has been proved successfully with the implementation of GST. The GST spirit is about growing stronger together. I hope the same GST spirit prevails in this session,” the Prime Minister said in his statement ahead of the Monsoon session.

The session, he said, is significant due many reasons.

“Nation completes seven decades of Independence on August 15, 2017. Quit India Movement turns 75 years on August 9, 2017. During this session, the nation gets an opportunity to elect the new President and the Vice President. In a way, this period is full of many significant events for the nation,” the Prime Minister added.