18 July,2022 01:08 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Pic/Twitter/@MahaDGIPR
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and other lawmakers from the state cast their vote in Vidhan Bhawan's central hall as voting for the presidential election began on Monday in which NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu is pitted against joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
The voting began at 10 am in the Vidhan Bhawan's central hall in Mumbai and will continue till 5 pm.
According to PTI, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar (NCP) and Congress's Balasaheb Thorat were also among the early voters. Pune BJP MLA Mukta Tilak, who is suffering from a serious illness, also arrived in the Vidhan Bhawan to cast her vote.
The opposition has nominated former Union minister Yashwant Sinha against Droupadi Murmu. MLAs and MPs form the electoral college to elect the President of India.
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar claimed that the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) presidential poll Droupadi Murmu will get "record-breaking" votes from Maharashtra.
"She will get votes across the party lines. You will see a huge turnout in this election. So, the lead that you see from Maharashtra will create a political history in the presidential polls," he further claimed while talking to reporters.
Taking a dig at the Maha Vikas Aghadi, a coalition of the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, Shelar told PTI it did not seem to have coordination.
The opposition MLAs will vote in favour of Murmu, much against the decision of their respective parties, he claimed.
(With inputs from PTI)
