Summary:
Dehradun, Jul 18 (PTI) Three Uttarakhand MLAs did not turn up to vote in the presidential election on Monday, the Vidhan Sabha secretariat here said.
Cabinet minister Chandan Ram Das, Congress MLAs from Kiccha Tilak Raj Behar and Badrinath Rajendra Bhandari skipped voting.
Das, the BJP MLA from Bageshwar, and Behar are said to be ill, Bhandari could not turn up to cast his vote, the secretariat said.
Of the total 70 MLAs, 67 cast their votes at the Vidhan Sabha here.
NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu is pitted against joint opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha in the poll.
After casting his vote, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said Murmu’s election to the top constitutional office is certain as the BJP, BSP and Independent MLAs are supporting her.
The ruling BJP has 47 members in the Uttarakhand Assembly, while the Congress has 19, and the Bahujan Samaj Party and Independents two each.
Uttarakhand has five Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha seats -- all represented by the BJP in Parliament.
Polling for the presidential election began at the state Assembly at 10 am on Monday and went on till 5 pm.
Dhami, Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri, cabinet ministers Subodh Uniyal, Premchand Aggrawal and Rekha Arya were among the first to cast their votes.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Yashpal Arya and Congress MLA from Haridwar (rural) Anupama Rawat also cast their votes in the morning.
PTI ALM RHL
.