Almost all legislators in Telugu states vote

Hyderabad/Amaravati, July 17 (IANS) All 174 legislators in Andhra Pradesh and 117 of 119 legislators in Telangana voted on Monday to elect the country's 14th President.

One seat is vacant in the 175-member Andhra Pradesh assembly while two legislators of Telangana could not participate in voting on health grounds.

Legislators from Telangana voted at the state legislative assembly in Hyderabad while their counterparts from Andhra Pradesh exercised their franchise at the state assembly in Amaravati.

According to Andhra Pradesh legislature secretary and returning officer for the presidential poll K. Satyanarayana Rao, all 174 legislators exercised their franchise even before the polling came to a close at 5 p.m.

Almost all the legislators had voted by afternoon. Both the states witnessed brisk polling since the process began at 10 a.m.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, state assembly Speaker Madhusudhana Chary and Leader of Opposition K. Jana Reddy were among the first to vote in Hyderabad.

Telangana legislature secretary Raja Sadaram said 117 of 119 MLAs voted.

The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had already announced its support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Ram Nath Kovind. The TRS has 90 members in the 119-member assembly.

Kovind was also assured support of five legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and three of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The vote value of each legislator in Telangana is 132.

All TRS legislators, including ministers, reached the assembly premises in three buses from the party headquarters Telangana Bhavan, where mock polling was held for the second time since Sunday to ensure all legislators vote properly.

The main opposition Congress, which has 13 members, backed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate Meira Kumar.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has seven MLAs and the lone member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) had also announced their support to Meira Kumar.

However, AIMIM leader in the assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi could not participate in the voting process as he is in London for medical treatment. TRS member Dasari Manohar Reddy also could not vote as he was undergoing treatment in a hospital.

In Andhra Pradesh, the NDA candidate is expected to get the support of all legislators as both the ruling TDP-BJP alliance and the lone opposition YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) have said that they will vote for Kovind.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP President N. Chandrababu Naidu and assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao were among the first to vote.

Leader of Opposition and YSRCP President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and other members of his party also exercised their franchise.

This is the first time, polling for the presidential election was held in Amaravati.

In the 175-member state assembly, the TDP has 124 members, including 21 who defected from YSRCP. The BJP has four legislators. The opposition YSRCP has 46 legislators.

Every legislator in Andhra Pradesh has a vote value of 159.

All the ballots will be sent to Delhi, where counting would take place on July 20.

Members of Parliament from both the Telugu-speaking states voted in Parliament House in New Delhi.