Presidential poll: 117 MLAs cast vote

Hyderabad: Polling for the Presidential election concluded at the Telangana State Legislative Assembly here on Monday. The polling, which commenced at 10 am, concluded at 5 pm at the polling station arranged in the Assembly committee hall.

The TRS and the Congress party are supporting the Opposition parties’ candidate Yashwant Sinha while the BJP and its allies are supporting Droupadi Murmu. The results will be announced on July 21.

In all, 117 of the total 119 MLAs, including Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao along with Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and State Cabinet Ministers utilised their voting rights. Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar and Vemulawada MLA Ch Ramesh did not cast their votes as they could not reach Hyderabad due to prior commitments. IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao was the first elected representative from Telangana to cast his vote.

All the MPs from Telangana have cast their votes in Parliament in New Delhi. Andhra Pradesh MLA Mahidhar Reddy also polled his vote at the Telangana Assembly as he was unable to visit Amaravati, following prior approval from the Election Commission of India.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Danasari Anasuya alias Seethakka had allegedly cast her vote for NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu. Soon after marking her vote on the ballot paper, she realised her mistake and approached the Election Returning Officer for a fresh ballot paper. However, the election authorities rejected her plea citing electoral norms. With no option left, she cast her vote using the ballot paper given to her earlier. Later, Seethakka told the media that the initial marking happened accidentally and it was not marked on either of the names of the Presidential candidates.