78 out of 81 members of J'khnad assembly vote till 1400hrs

Ranchi, July 19 (UNI): About 78 out of total 81 legislators of Jharkhand Assembly cast their vote for the 13th presidential poll till 1400 hours today.

Jailed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo and MP Sibu Soren, who took special permission to take part into the fray, also excercised his franchise at the state assemble premises here.

Meanwhile, the lone CPI(ML) MLA Viond Singh, who earlier announced not to take part in the voting, abstained himself from the process and Upendra Das did not vote due to illness.

Prominent among the UPA leaders who cast their votes were Chief Minister Madhu Koda and former chief minister Arjun Munda from the NDA.

Five rebel BJP MLAs -- Pradep Yadav, Manohar Tekriwal, Ravindra Rai, Vishnu Bhaiya and Kunti Singh failed to cast their vote.

However, they did not spell about their choice but maintained that they had cast according to their conscience.

The one nominated member in 81-member state Assembly did not vote as he was not entitled to cast his vote in the presidential poll.

UNI