Vice-presidential Polls: BJD to Abstain From Voting, Mamata Hints at Support For Ansari

Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has announced that it would abstain from voting in the vice-presidential election scheduled to be held on August 7. However key UPA ally Trinamool Congress indicated support for incumbent Hamid Ansari, who is placed comfortably for a win.

"After consultation with parliament members and senior leaders, the party has decided to abstain from voting in the vice-presidential elections," BJD President and chief minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

Maintaining its earlier stance to maintain equi-distance from both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA, Mr Patnaik said his party MPs were in favour of not taking part in the election process.

The elections are scheduled to be held on Tuesday. Members of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha 545 and Rajya Sabha 245) form the Electoral College and Ansari is expected to win comfortably.

BJD which was first to name PA Sangma as its candidate for the presidential poll, has 21 MPs, 14 in Lok Sabha and seven in Rajya Sabha.

Though the BJD strongly backed Mr Sangma by projecting him as a prominent tribal and minority leader, the regional outfit had delayed its decision with regard to the Tuesday poll.

BJP-backed candidate and party MP Jaswant Singh had said he was confident that he will get the support of BJD and AIADMK whose chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa is yet to announce her stand.