NEW DELHI: THE Election Commission has allowed 55 parliamentarians, including Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his Goa counterpart Manohar Parrikar, to vote in their state assemblies instead of Parliament House, in the presidential election on Monday.
Similarly, five MLAs will cast their ballot in Parliament House and four other legislators will vote in state assemblies which they have not been elected to.
Typically, MPs vote in Parliament House and MLAs in their respective state assemblies. However, as per rules governing the presidential elections, lawmakers can ask the commission to make an exception to allow them to vote from some other place.
The Election Commission has said that it has allowed 14 Rajya Sabha and 41 Lok Sabha members to vote in their state assemblies instead of Parliament House. These include Parrikar, Adityanath and UP deputy CM Keshav Maurya, who have not yet given up their Parliament membership. While Parrikar is a Rajya Sabha member, Adityanath and Maurya are Lok Sabha members. Most of the MPs who would vote in their respective assemblies belong to the Trinamool Congress.
NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind is pitted against opposition candidate Meira Kumar in the prestigious poll. A total of 32 polling stations — one in Parliament House and one each in the state legislative assemblies, have been set up for the election. The ballot boxes will be brought to Delhi for counting on July 20.
The poll panel has warned that no whip or directive can be issued to party members to vote in favour of any candidate. A total 33 observers have been appointed by the EC to oversee the conduct of the election.