Voting for presidential poll ends in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, July 19 (UNI) Polling for the Presidential elections in Uttarakhand ended at around 1345 hrs today with 69 electors out of eligible 77 members exercising their franchise.

The remaining eight members, including Congress MLA Amrita Rawat and other seven MPs from the state, were slated to cast their votes in Parliament.

Polling started exactly at 1000 hrs with BJP Assembly members taking a lead. BJP state chief Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Speaker Harbans Kapoor were among the early voters.

Congress member Kishore Upadhyaya was the last person to exercise his franchise. Chief Minister Maj Gen (Retd) B C Khanduri, still a member of Parliament, was the only MP to cast his vote here.

Though all the eligible electors have cast their votes, the polling station would remain open till 1700 hrs-- the scheduled time of closing of the polling.

The 69 members who voted here included the Chief Minister, 35 BJP MLAs, 19 from the Congress, eight of the Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs, three from Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and three independents. Out of 70 Assembly seats in the state, one seat is vacant following resignation of one Congress MLA recently.

UNI