Presidential election: Electors will have to furnish I-cards

New Delhi, Jul 18: Electors keen to exercise their franchise in the Presidential election will have to furnish either their identity card or a letter from the poll authority before being allowed to vote.

"Yes, they (MPs) have to identify themselves. We have advised them to get their identity cards," Rajya Sabha Secretary General and the Returning Officer for the 14th Presidential Election VK Agnihotri told reporters here. Members of the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies make up the electoral college for the Presidential election where UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee is pitted against BJP-backed Opposition candidate PA Sangma.

Agnihotri, briefing reporters on the poll preparations, said that each elector has been sent a letter regarding the Presidential poll and they have been requested to bring it with them when they come to cast their vote. However, Rajya Sabha secretariat officers have also been given a directory of members of both the Houses to enable them to establish the identity of the voters.

As many as 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs with a total vote value of 10.98 lakh votes are eligible to cast their ballot in the 14th Presidential election. Elaborate arrangements have been made at Room No. 63 of Parliament House and in Assembly buildings in every state capital, including in Delhi and Puducherry, to enable the electors to cast their vote.

The polling for the election will begin at 10:00 am and will continue till 5:00 pm Agnihotri said the Election Commission has granted permission to 77 MPs to cast their votes in different state capitals, while eight MLAs from seven states have got the nod of the poll authority to vote in Parliament House.

PTI