The Hindu : Sukh Ram abstains

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 16, 2002

Other States

Other States - Himachal Pradesh

Sukh Ram abstains

By Our Staff Correspondent

SHIMLA JULY 15. Mr. Sukh Ram, former Union Telecommunications Minister who was recently convicted by a special CBI court in a telecommunication scandal case, today abstained from voting in the Presidential election. His party, Himachal Vikas Congress, is a partner with the BJP in the State Government. Two of his party MLAs had joined the BJP at the time of formation of the Government and one of his MLAs, Mohinder Singh Thakur, was declared unattached after he left Himachal Vikas Congress.

One of the MLAs, G.S. Bali of the Congress who is undergoing medical treatment, was to vote in New Delhi. But another MLA, Virender Gautam, who was also in Delhi, was not given permission to vote here, according to the office of the Speaker. Sarveen Chowdhry, Parliamentary Secretary who was also ill and undergoing treatment at PGI Chandigarh, turned up at the last moment to cast her vote. In the 68-member House, only 66 votes were to be polled as two of the sitting members, Ram Lal Thakur and J.B.L. Khachi, had recently passed away. In all, 63 votes were cast in the State today for the Presidential elections.

Since the NDA and the Congress had arrived at a consensus to vote for A.J.P. Abdul Kalam, all the votes except the one of Mahinder Singh, who is an unattached member, are expected to have gone in Mr. Kalam's favour.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

Stories in this Section

Sukh Ram abstains