With two days left for the Presidential election, the ruling Congress in the State has convened a meeting of the legislators at Jubilee Hall here tomorrow to acquaint them with the voting procedure. Talking to mediapersons here today, Congress whip E Anil said that a mock poll would be conducted in the meeting at the premises of Legislative Assembly building for the benefit of the legislators. He said that Congress Chief Whip G Venkata Ramana Reddy would act as the election agent for UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee. Mr Anil said a communication has been sent to all MLAs to attend tomorrow’s meeting without fail. Meanwhile, authorities began making arrangements for the Thursday’s Presidential election in the Assembly buildings. The Congress has strength of 155 in a House of 294. Besides Congress, the UPA Candidate MR Pranab Mukherjee would also get the support of the seven-member Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) which is a part of the UPA and also the CPI(M) and Lok Satta. The CPI has decided to abstain from polling while the three-member BJP MLAs will support Mr P A Sangma supported by NDA, BJD and AIADMK. Though the YSRCP headed by Mr Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is yet to announce its stand officially, it is believed that the party (with a strength of 17 MLAs and two MPs) might support Mr Mukherjee. Meanwhile, the main opposition Telugu Desam has reportedly took a decision to remain neutral in the Presidential polls. The TRS has also not announced their position on the Presidential poll. However, TRS might abstain from voting, party sources said. The polling will be held in the Committee hall one of the assembly where at least two polling compartments will be set up. In addition to MLAs, four MPS have opted to cast their vote here. The MPS, who opted to caste their vote here, citing different reasons were Reddy, his party MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, Congress MP Nedurumilli Janardhana Reddy and TDP’s K Narayan Rao. As the voting for the Presidential election is based on preferential voting, the legislature Secretariat conducted training classes for the staff and plans another round before polling day. After the polling, the ballot boxes will be taken to New Delhi where the counting would take place on July 22, official sources told UNI. UNI
