Murmu scores 121 from Gujarat as ‘at least’ 7 Congress MLAs cross-voted

As per the data available after counting of votes Thursday, Murmu got 121 votes while Sinha got 57 of the total votes polled from the Gujarat Assembly.

The Gujarat Assembly has a total strength of 182 seats of which four are vacant due to different reasons. Of the remaining 178 MLAs, BJP has 111 followed by the Congress at 63, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (2), the Nationalist Congress Party (1) and one Independent (Jignesh Mevani). However, the Congress’s effective strength is 64 as Mevani has pledged support to the party that had also recently appointed him a working president.

On July 18—the day of election—Gujarat witnessed 100 per cent polling as all the 178 eligible MLAs voted. Later in the day, Kandhal Jadeja, the lone NCP MLA, had gone public saying he had voted for Murmu.

At the same time, two tribal MLAs of Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP)–Chhotubhai Vasava and his son Mahesh Vasava–did not make it clear whom they voted for.

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In the presidential election, political parties cannot issue a whip and the ballot cast is considered secret.

A senior Congress legislator, who did not wish to be named, said, “Kandhal (Jadeja) had publicly said that he voted for the BJP candidate. We believe that the Vasavas, too, voted for Murmu since the latter was a tribal woman candidate. So, yes, seven of our MLAs seem to have voted against party’s instructions to vote for Yashwant Sinha.”

When asked about the reasons, the Congress legislator said, “There could be more than one reason. Since Murmu is a tribal woman, some of our tribal legislators could have voted for her. Some party MLAs who are dissatisfied with the recent appointments in the party could also have voted against the party’s instructions.”

Earlier, Congress Leader of Opposition in Gujarat assembly and tribal MLA Sukhram Rathva had termed “a masterstroke” the BJP’s move to name Murmu—a tribal woman—as the NDA nominee . However, Rathva had asserted that he did not see any change (cross-voting) from his party in Gujarat.