The Hindu : National : 305 members vote in Uttar Pradesh

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Friday, Jul 20, 2007
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National

305 members vote in Uttar Pradesh

Atiq Khan

94 Samajwadi Party MLAs, one independent abstain

One BSP MP casts vote in Lucknow
Former allies of Mulayam turn up for polling

LUCKNOW: With 94 Samajwadi Party MLAs and one independent abstaining, 305 members of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly exercised their franchise in the Presidential elections on Thursday. A Bahujan Samaj Party MP also cast his vote here.

The total strength of the House is 403, but three seats are vacant. Besides the SP MLAs, the BSP has 209, the Bharatiya Janata Party 51, the Congress 22, the Rashtriya Lok Dal 10, the Rashtriya Parivartan Dal (RPD) 2 and the Jan Morcha, the Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Swabhiman Party one each. There are nine independents.

With the BSP, the Congress and the RLD, besides the RPD, the Jan Morcha and the Rashtriya Swabhiman Party, along with six independents, voting in favour of United Progressive Alliance-Left candidate Pratibha Patil, the tally of votes in her favour stands at 251.

54 for BJP

BJP MLA Satish Mahana, election agent of the National Democratic Alliance-supported independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat told newsmen that along with the party’s 51 votes, three other MLAs voted for Mr. Shekhawat. It included Dhananjay Singh of the JD (U), a BJP ally. The names of the remaining two were not disclosed.

Chief Electoral Officer Anuj Kumar Bishnoi said three MPs had requested to be allowed to cast their votes here, but only BSP MP Anil Shukla Warsi turned up.

Some of the erstwhile allies of the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh turned up for the polling. They included the former State Food and Civil Supplies Minister and independent MLA from Kunda, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya.

Independent MLA from Mau Mokhtar Ansari, serving sentence in the Ghazipur jail, cast his vote as also Independent MLA from Rae Bareli Sadar Akhilesh Kumar Singh, facing charges in a murder case.

The husband-wife duo of Dharam Pal alias D.P. Yadav and Umlesh Yadav, both RPD MLAs from Budaun district, voted.

The lone independent member to have abstained was Saharanpur MLA Imran Masood. He is the son of Rasheed Masood, SP MP from Saharanpur and the Third Front’s Vice-Presidential candidate.

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