Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and other lawmakers from the state cast their vote in Mumbai on July 18 to elect India’s 15th president. BJP MLA Ashish Shelar claimed that the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential poll Droupadi Murmu will get "record-breaking" votes from Maharashtra.
Voting started at 10 am in the Vidhan Bhawan’s central hall here and will continue till 5 pm. Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar (NCP) and Congress’s Balasaheb Thorat were also among the early voters.
Pune BJP MLA Mukta Tilak, who is suffering from a serious illness, also arrived in the Vidhan Bhawan to cast her vote. The opposition has nominated former Union minister Yashwant Sinha against Murmu.
MLAs and MPs form the electoral college to elect the President of India. The BJP has 106 MLAs in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly along with 40 legislators belonging to the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, besides 10 independents who support the BJP.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena with 15 MLAs has announced support for Murmu. The NCP and Congress have 53 and 44 MLAs, respectively.
One seat in the House is lying vacant due to the death of a Shiv Sena MLA. Meanwhile, BJP MLA and former state minister Ashish Shelar claimed Murmu will get "record-breaking" votes from Maharashtra. "She will get votes across the party lines. You will see a huge turnout in this election. So, the lead that you see from Maharashtra will create a political history in the presidential polls, he further claimed while talking to reporters.
Taking a dig at the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a coalition of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, Shelar said it did not seem to have coordination. The opposition MLAs will vote in favour of Murmu, much against the decision of their respective parties, he claimed.
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