PANAJI
Will it be Droupadi Murmu or Yashwant Sinha who will bag more of the 40 votes cast in Goa in the Presidential election, polling for which was held at the Goa legislative Assembly complex in Porvorim on Monday?
That will be known only on Thursday the day fixed for counting as all of Goa's 40 legislators cast their secret ballot through the polling hours between 10 am and 5 pm.
Goa's two Lok Sabha MPs and one Rajya Sabha MP voted at the Parliament in Delhi as they had not registered to vote here at the Goa Assembly Complex.
After the end of polling the ballot box was sealed and will be taken to the parliament building in Delhi for counting on Thursday.
There has been high drama in Goa's political corridors in the run-up to the presidential poll with talk of political defections and voting against party lines.
Murmu is the candidate of the ruling BJP-led NDA while Sinha is the joint candidate of the Opposition parties. If voting has happened strictly on party lines, than Murmu should get 25 MLAs' votes and Sinha 15 even as there are strong rumours of possible cross-voting in the wake of a claim by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant that the NDA candidate will get several more than 25 votes.
After the internal revolt in the Congress legislature party which prompted the Opposition party to act against its top two leaders -- Michael Lobo and Digambar Kamat -- filing disqualification pleas against them, five of its MLAs were last weekend sent to Chennai which reports said was to prevent them to come under the pressure of prying efforts of the ruling BJP ahead of the Presidential poll.
Cross voting or not will be cleared with the opening of ballot boxes on July 21 at Parliament building in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission said over 99 per cent of the total 4,796 electors cast their votes in presidential poll, while 10 States and the Union Territory of Puducherry recorded a turnout of 100 per cent.
The election was concluded successfully in a free, fair and transparent manner at the Parliament House and at 30 centres within State Legislative Assemblies across the country including in Delhi and Puducherry, the poll panel said in a statement.
