145 MLAS in Orissa cast votes for the Presidential election

Bhubaneswar,July 19 (UNI) Polling for the Presidential election was complete in Orissa by 1400 hrs, with 145 of the 147 MLAS in the state assembly casting their ballots by 1400hrs.

Orissa Assembly sources said leader of Opposition J B Pattnaik was the first to cast his ballot while Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,BJP legislature Party leader B B Harichandan and Speaker Maheswar Mohanty exercised their franchise later.

BJP MLA from Baliguda Karendra Majhi had informed the Assembly secretariat that he would cast his ballot in Delhi while Independent member Sambhunath Nayak abstained from voting.

The total vote value of the Orissa MLAs will be 21,903. The ruling BJD-BJP however, has a majority strength of 93 MLAs and support of seven of the total eight Independent members.

The Opposition Congress has 38 MLAs while the CPI and CPM have one MLA each in the house.The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Orissa Gana Parishad(OGP) have the strength of four and two members respectively.

UNI