MPs arrive ahead of time for presidential poll

NEW DELHI: After a bitter campaign to choose the successor to President APJ Abdul Kalam, parliamentarians on Thursday turned out well ahead of time to exercise their franchise in the election to the top post.

Even before the polling started at 10 am, a long queue had formed outside room number 62 of Parliament House, where the MPs were to cast their votes.

Giridhari Lal Bhargav, the BJP MP from Jaipur, said he was the first to cast his vote.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was among the first MPs who exercised their franchise. He flashed a victory symbol after casting his vote.

Singh was closely followed by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. A host of Union ministers, including Lalu Prasad, P Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal and Shivraj Patil, also voted in the initial hours.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar came with his party MPs, including daughter Supriya Sule and Union Minister Praful Patel, to vote.

Dayanidhi Maran, who was axed as a Union minister following a rift with DMK chief M Karunanidhi, came to vote a few minutes after other party MPs and Union ministers cast their ballots.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi was among the first MPs from the UPA-Left combine to cast their vote.

There was confusion as to whether AIADMK MPs had voted, with a report from Chennai saying the party was yet to take a decision in the matter.

The AIADMK is part of the UNPA, which said it would abstain from voting in the presidential election. Some AIADMK MPs were seen in the queue, but reports said they had gone to Parliament House to attend a committee meeting.