Achuthanandan among early voters in Prez poll

Thiruvananthapuram, July 19 (UNI) Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was among the early voters who cast their ballots today to elect the 13th President of the country.

Almost all votes from Kerala are likely to go to United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Candidate Pratibha Patil as both the ruling Left Democratic Front(LDF), which has 98 members, and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) with 42 legislators in the 140-member House have announced their support to her.

The BJP has no representation in the Kerala Assembly.

Polling began in the Assembly complex at 1000 hrs and Health Minister P K Sreemathy was the first to cast her vote. Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy also exercised his franchise.

Among the 140 MLAs, two members would not be able to cast their votes. While a petition challenging Mr M J Jacob of the LDF was pending in court, Mr K M Mani of the UDF is recuperating from a surgery in the US.

UNI