Presidential Polls: NCP MLA from Gujarat, Odisha Cong MLA say they voted for Droupadi Murmu

Gandhinagar: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA from Gujarat Kandhal Jadeja on Monday said he voted for the National Democratic Alliance-backed presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote on Monday, the lone NCP MLA in Gujarat said that he voted for Murmu.
This comes as a setback for the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, which has lent its support to joint Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha who is pitted against Murmu in the Presidential polls.

Also, Congress MLA from Odisha, Mohammed Moquim, said he has cross-voted and cast his vote in favour of Droupadi Murmu. "I have voted for the daughter of the soil," he told ANI.

"I am a Congress MLA... but I voted for NDA's candidate Droupadi Murmu. It is my personal decision as I've listened to my heart which guided me to do something for the soil and that's why voted for her," Moquim said.

Meanwhile, in Assam All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Karim Uddin Barbhuiya has claimed that "Congress is cross-voting" in the presidential election.

Barbhuiya has claimed that at least 20 Congress MLAs in Assam have voted in favour of the former Jharkhand Governor. He also claimed that the same Congress MLAs had also betrayed its candidate in the Rajya Sabha election.

Polling began at 10 am at the Parliament House and the state legislative assemblies with MPs and MLAs casting their votes to elect the 15th President of India. The voting process will conclude at 5 pm. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on July 21.

NDA's Murmu has the support of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Janata Dal (Secular), Shiromani Akali Dal, both the factions of Shiv Sena and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

Murmu is a former Governor of Jharkhand and a former Odisha minister. If elected, she will be the first tribal President of India and the country's second female President.

The Opposition's Sinha, a former Union Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government who later joined Trinamool Congress is backed by Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Sinha resigned from TMC before he was nominated as the Opposition's candidate for the presidential poll. (ANI)