67 legislators vote in Himachal

Sixty seven legislators in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly voted here in the Presidential election on Monday, officials said. One ailing Congress legislator had passed away.

By afternoon, all the 67 legislators exercised their franchise, an assembly official said.

Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal was the first to vote. "Our MLAs were much excited to vote as they reached the Vidhan Sabha (the polling station) much ahead of the polling to begin at 10 a.m.," he told reporters.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and some of his cabinet colleagues also voted.

In the 68-member legislative assembly, the ruling Congress has 35 MLAs, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 28 and four are Independents.

Two Independents have extended support to the BJP and the remaining two to the Congress, which has lost its legislator Karan Singh, who died due to illness on May 12.

--IANS

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