All legislators of Jammu and Kashmir assembly, upper and lower houses casted their vote in Presidential polls except Engineer Abdul Rashid Sheikh of Awami Itehad Party today.
"All but one legislator, Engineer Abdul Rashid Sheikh, participated in the polling,'' said M.R. Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Secretary. According to Singh, all 87 elected legislators were eligible to cast their vote, but Engineer Rashid boycotted.
Two nominated legislators in the legislative assembly and legislative council were not eligible to participate in the elections.
All elected legislators in state assemblies and members of parliament, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha, constitute the electoral college.
The polling booth for JK members of the electoral college was set up in JK assembly secretariat. According to Singh, no MP from Jammu and Kashmir filed a request to cast his vote in Srinagar.
"Polling began after noon and ended before 5pm," Singh said. "The counting will be held in Delhi on July 20."
The Election Commission of India allows MPs to cast their ballot in state capitals in case they don’t intend to vote in the Parliament House in New Delhi.
The EC had deputed Shailendra Singh, (joint secretary-grade officer) as an observer for the voting in Srinagar.
Electronic voting machines were not used in the presidential polls.
The two candidates, Ram Nath Kovind of NDA and Meira Kumar of the opposition, had recently visited Srinagar to seek the support of the lawmakers from the state.
The total vote value of Jammu and Kashmir legislators and MPs in this presidential election is 12636—6264 for JK assembly members and 6372 of MPs.
The BJP with 25 legislators and four MPs has a total vote value of 4632. The second is its ally the PDP, which has a total vote value of 4140 from 28 state legislators and three MPs.
The main opposition National Conference has 15 state legislators and one MP. That gives it a total vote value of 1788. The total vote value of Jammu and Kashmir Congress, with 12 legislators and one Rajya Sabha MP, is 1572.
Two Jammu and Kashmir legislators—Hakim Muhammad Yasin and Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami of CPI(M)—have extended their support to the opposition, taking their total vote value to 3504.
The electoral college for the presidential election comprises 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs. The total value of the electoral college is 10,98,903.
