NCP MLA and former Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and MLA Ramesh Kadam who are jailed in cases of corruption and scam arriving to vote for the Presidential elections. DH Photo
Two jailed MLAs - former Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and Ramesh Kadam, both from NCP - on Monday were among the 287 legislators of the 288-member Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, who cast their votes for the Presidential elections.
The polling was held at the Central Hall of Vidhan Bhavan at Nariman Point.
Nalasopara MLA Kshitij Thakur, however, did not vote as he was out of the country.
Bhujbal, a senior NCP leader and an MLA from Yeola in Nashik, was arrested in March 2016, in cases of corruption including the Maharashtra Sadan scam. Kadam, an MLA from Mohol in Solapur, was arrested in August 2015 in a case of alleged siphoning off of over Rs 141 crore from the state-run Annabhau Sathe Development Corporation. Both of them are lodged at the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai. Bhujbal was brought in an ambulance, while Kadam in a police van.
There are fears that there could not some cross voting in Maharashtra. In fact, when Kadam was walking out, he was asked by reporters whom he voted and he was heard saying: "bhajapa" (BJP).
Independent MLA from Badnera, Ravi Rana, had claimed 15 MLAs of Congress and NCP were in touch with him and would vote for BJP-NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind and not Congress-led Opposition candidate Meira Kumar. However, both Congress and NCP denied it.