Pranab Mukherjee looked set to enter Rashtrapati Bhavan as polling for the presidential election ended Thursday evening. The UPA was expecting at least 68 per cent of votes to have been cast in his favour,with his BJP-backed opponent P A Sangma unlikely to have got beyond 29 per cent. An overwhelming majority of the 4,896 electors comprising members of the two houses of parliament and state legislative assemblies voted. Polling opened at 10 am in Parliament House and at designated stations in the state assemblies; nearly 70 per cent MPs had voted in the first couple of hours. The only abstentions were from the CPI,RSP,TDP,TRS and Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. A handful of electors did not vote because of other reasons. Working from what was virtually a control room set up in the office of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal,a team of Congress managers led by Bansal and Ahmed Patel,political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi,worked through the day to monitor the voting and ensure that every positive vote for the UPA candidate was cast. Sonia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh waited for Mukherjee in his Parliament office and proceeded to cast their votes after he arrived. Rahul Gandhi joined the trio subsequently. BJP leaders too turned out in strength. Senior leader L K Advani led his party MPs to the polling booth. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh added some excitement to the proceedings by mistakenly marking his vote for Sangma. He realised the error immediately,however,and tore up the ballot paper and asked the returning officer,Rajya Sabha secretary general V K Agnihotri,for a fresh one. Sangmas election representative Satya Pal Jain protested,asking that the original ballot be accepted,and the second one cancelled. We have recieved a complaint in this regard which I have forwarded to the Election Commission, Agnihotri told reporters later. Agnihotri said that of the 699 MPs and 8 MLAs who had sought permission to vote at Parliament House,675 MPs and 8 MLAs had voted,which translated to 96.6 per cent polling. Of the remaining electorate,4,189 electors,which included 77 MPs,had sought permission to vote in their respective states. As of now,we have confirmation of 2,937 MLAs and 40 MPs having cast their votes. Reports from some states are yet to come, Agnihotri said,adding that based on available data,the polling percentage was 72. Counting of votes would begin at 11 am on July 22,he said. The first elector to cast his vote in Parliament House was Narsapuram MP Kanumuri Bapiraju. BSP chief Mayawati and NCP president and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar were among the early voters. From the opposition camp,BJP leaders Murli Manohar Joshi,Anurag Thakur and Yashodhara Raje,and BJD leaders B Mahtab and Baijayant Panda voted early. The days last voter was Bareilly MP Pravin Singh Aron.
