All 151 MLAs of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), 21 of 23 TDP MLAs and the lone MLA of Jana Sena Party cast their votes for the Presidential election held on the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly premises at Velagapudi in Guntur district on Monday.
A YSRCP MLA exercised his right to vote in Hyderabad. The poll percentage was put at 98.55.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was the first to cast his vote in the Committee Hall of the Assembly followed by Speaker Thammineni Seetharam, Ministers Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy and Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and some of their Cabinet colleagues and YSRCP MLAs.
TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu cast his vote later in the day, along with his party MLAs. The YSRCP and TDP MPs cast their votes in Parliament.
Security bandobust and other arrangements were made in the Assembly as per the guidelines laid down by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The election was monitored by ECI Observer Chandraker Bharti, Special Officer Santosh Ajmera and Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Mukesh Kumar Meena.
Assembly Deputy Secretaries K. Raja Kumar and R. Vanitha Rani were the Assistant Returning Officers.
The ballot boxes were kept in a strong room on the Assembly premises amid tight security after the polling ended at 5 p.m. Arrangements have been made to dispatch the boxes to New Delhi on July 19 morning.
Both the YSRCP and the TDP have supported the candidature of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee Droupadi Murmu, who hails from the Santhal tribes in Odisha. She is the former Governor of Jharkhand.
Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha was the candidate of the Opposition parties.
