KL Report
SRINAGAR
BJP took an exception to an independent lawmaker revealed his choice in anticipation of exercising his right to vote for the Rajya Sabha on Saturday. They even demanded the vote be cancelled, which the Returning Officer rejected.
Reports from Jammu said that engineer Rashid told reporters that he is voting for Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Congress veteran. He allegedly said it within the premises of the assembly.
This triggered momentary disorder with BJP lawmakers seeking cancellation of the vote. The demand, however, was not accepted by the Returning Officer.
Interestingly, Engineer Rashid told Kashmir Life that he did not issue such statement and the opposition was unnecessarily trying to make an issue out of it.
For the Rajya Sabha election, the system in vogue permitted all the political parties to have their polling agent who had the right to check the votes of their members. This helped parties to ensure the party whip was not floated, anywhere. However, the same facility was not available for independent lawmakers.
Reports from Jammu said the election process is complete and the counting of votes would start at 5 pm. Results are expected within 20 minutes.
Feedbacks from political parties suggest that Azad has secured 30 votes and has made it. Of the rest three seats, parties expect BJP winning one and PDP two. However, formal conformation will come once the votes are counted and results made public.
