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Lawmakers vote for next President New Delhi, July 19 With MPs and legislators from the Congress and its supporting parties turning up in full strength, Mukherjee’s poll managers declared jubilantly that the results would prove to be a surprise as the UPA candidate would “get even more votes than they had expected”. The UPA has an edge, as all its constituents — including the mercurial Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee — have remained united. Support from the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (S) further helped swell their numbers. In addition, the ruling combine also managed to get the backing of two key NDA allies -- Janata Dal (U) and Shiv Sena. The CPM has also backed the UPA. With several smaller parties and individual MPs also pledging support to the UPA nominee, his election agent, Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal, said it would not be surprising if Mukherjee got up to 7.5 lakh votes. Mukherjee’s pre-eminent position in the UPA government and the Congress was underlined today as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi accompanied him when he cast his vote on Thursday morning. Mukherjee is the third sitting MP after Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and Zail Singh to be nominated for the President’s post. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mukherjee first assembled in the Prime Minister’s office from where they proceeded to Room Number 63 where voting was being conducted. After casting his vote, Mukherjee spent an hour in Bansal’s office, which had been converted into an informal control room, as senior party leaders such as Ahmed Patel, Sonia’s political secretary, received periodic feedback about voting from state capitals.Interestingly, K Bapi Raju, Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh who heads the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board (TTD), was the first to cast his vote after he asked to be accorded this privilege. All leaders present readily acceded to his request in the hope that he would invoke Balaji’s blessings. The voting also witnessed a bit of drama when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav mistakenly voted for Opposition candidate PA Sangma and then tore up the ballot paper. He requested for a fresh ballot paper and then voted for Mukherjee. Sangma’s poll agent Satyapal Jain raised strong objections and even shot off a complaint to returning officer VK Agnihotri after the incident. Speaking to mediapersons after completion of voting, Agnihotri said rules provide for issuance of a fresh ballot. “An elector approached me with a torn ballot paper and per rules a fresh one was provided,” he explained, adding that he had forwarded Jain’s complaint to the Election Commission for guidance. Giving the voting figures, Agnihotri said 96 per cent voting was recorded in the Parliament House — 675 MPs of 699 members and eight legislators had cast their vote here.
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