AAP's Phoolka skips the ballot box in Punjab

Aam Aadmi Party's HS Phoolka was the only MLA in the 117-member Punjab Assembly not to cast his vote for the Presidential election on Monday.Phoolka, MLA from Dakha in Punjab, abstained from voting as he had already declared that he would not vote for the Congress-led Opposition Presidential candidate Meira Kumar since he was fighting cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riotsBoth MLAs from the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), the AAP's ally, also supported NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind.Of the state's 117 legislators, 96 MLAs — 77 Congress MLAs and 19 AAP MLAs — have extended support to Meira Kumar. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh held a brief meeting with all his party MLAs before voting commenced. With a number of first time MLAs in the party, the legislators were also briefed about the voting procedure.The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), with its 15 MLAs, declared support for candidate Ram Nath Kovind. SAD President Sukhbir Badal took a dig at AAP, alleging that the party was working in connivance with the Congress in extending support to Meira Kumar.

The election went off smoothly in Haryana. However, Congress state president Ashok Tanwar and the party's state observor Charan Dass Mahant objected when they were not allowed to enter the conference room where the voting was underway.