Will discuss cross-voting issue: Congress

The Congress on Friday said that it will discuss the issue of alleged cross-voting that happened during the Presidential elections, in which NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind emerged victorious.

Congress leader Pankaj Chaturvedi, speaking on the behalf on his party colleagues from Madhya Pradesh, asserted that all 56 leaders of his party in the region voted for Opposition candidate Meira Kumar.

"I am sure that from MP all 56 Congress leaders have voted for Meira Kumar and if a vote or two have swung on the other side, a discussion will be done on the same," said Chaturvedi.

Asserting that the cross-voting in the recently concluded Presidential election shows lack of unity in the Congress party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that all political leaders who wished for the better of the nation, have voted for President-elect Ram Nath Kovind.

BJP leader Vishwas Sarang said large-scale cross-voting exposed the vulnerability of the opposition camp.

"I had already told this in advance that let the results come, and the truth of unity in the Congress will come out in open. All the leaders who love this nation have voted for Kovind ji," Sarang told ANI.

Announcing the results, Lok Sabha Secretary General and returning officer Anoop Mishra announced yesterday that Kovind got 2930 votes valued 7,02,044 and Meira Kumar got 1844 votes valued 3,67,314.

Reportedly, approximately 100 MLAs and MPs cross-voted in favour of Kovind in the president polls conducted on July 17 across the nation.

Kovind's overall vote value was 661 more than the assured value of 701,382, comprising lawmakers from the NDA and some opposition parties. In contrast, Kumar's total vote value stood at 367,314.