Guwahati: A total of 119 Assam MLAs—including the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma—voted in the presidential election on Monday.
123 of the 126 MLAs will vote in the assembly while Congress MLA Bharat Chandra Narah has asked permission to vote in the parliament while receiving treatment in New Delhi, according to a PTI report.
Two AIUDF MLAs — Suzzamuddin Laskar and Nizamuddin Choudhury are presently abroad.
Sarma, after casting his vote, tweeted, “I cast my vote for the 2022 presidential election.”
I cast my vote for the 2022 Presidential Election. pic.twitter.com/sFxcQ9cyaX
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 18, 2022
Legislators of both ruling NDA and Opposition Congress and AIUDF were seen queuing on the assembly premises before voting began at 10 AM.
According to an official, the majority of cabinet members and opposition leader Debabrata Saikia have voted.
AIUDF MLAs arrived as a group to cast their ballots but two of the party’s 15 lawmakers would not do so because they are travelling to Saudi Arabia to do the Haj, according to the report.
A day before the election, AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal altered his mind and indicated that his MPs would support Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha instead of the earlier announcement that the AIUDF will support Droupadi Murmu, the NDA’s presidential contender.
On Sunday, a number of BJP MLAs went to Ajmal’s house and begged him to reconsider and vote for Murmu.
MLA Aminul Islam responded to this on Monday “BJP uses two different criteria. It claims to be independent of the AIUDF on the one hand, while blatantly soliciting our support on the other.”
Education Minister Ranoj Pegu stated that Murmu will win and that it would be best if all members supported her.
Each vote cast by an Assam MLA is worth 116, for a total value of 14,616.
Three BPF members who support the coalition but have not formally joined it are also likely to vote for Murmu. The ruling NDA has 79 MLAs.
There are 27 MLAs in Congress, but three of them have been suspended for anti-party activity and have not stated who they will vote for.
Members of the CPI (M) and independent parties have vowed to support Sinha.
Congress MLA Bharat Chandra Narah who is presently receiving medical treatment in New Delhi, has asked for permission to exercise his right to vote in the Parliament.
The combined vote value of Assam’s 21 MPs—14 in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha—is 14,700.
The BJP has 13 MPs, its partners AGP and UPPL each have one, and the ruling NDA as a whole has 15 MPs. One Independent is also expected to support Murmu.
Three members of the opposition Congress are also members of the AIUDF, while another Independent has vowed to back Sinha.