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His rival P A Sangma, who was backed by BJP and some other opposition parties like AIADMK and BJD, could manage only 2,57,466 vote value, according to Rajya Sabha Secretary General V K Agnihotri, who is the Returning Officer for the poll. Mukherjee, 76-year-old Congress leader, brings to the top Constitutional post a wealth of experience as he has held key positions in the party and government, including holding the portfolios of Finance, Defence and External Affairs.
He established a clear lead right from the beginning when counting of votes of MPs completed and maintained it across the states, except the BJP-ruled ones. He sprang a surprise in BJP-ruled Karnataka where he got the votes of 117 MLAs against BJP`s 103 in the 224-member Assembly. Out of 748 MPs, who had voted, he secured 527 votes with a value of 3,73,116 against 206 for Sangma which has a value of 1,45,848.
Fifteen votes including that of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were invalid. Of these, nine were to be in favour of Mukherjee while six for Sangma. Voting for the Presidential election took place on July 19. The electoral college for the poll comprises MPs and MLAs.
Outside supporters of UPA, including Samajwadi Party and BSP, besides some opposition parties like JD(U) and Shiv Sena also voted in his favour. In Kerala, it was a clean sweep for Mukherjee as he got all the 124 votes polled while one was invalid. Sangma drew a blank. CPI and RSP members abstained from voting which has a 140 member Assembly.
In neighbouring BJP-ruled Karnataka, there has been apparent cross-voting. Mukherjee got the majority votes in the 224-member Assembly with 117 MLAs voting for him. Sangma could get only 103 votes while three votes were invalid. One MLA did not vote. The Congress had expected only 102 votes, including that of H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S).
Sangma, as expected, scored heavily in states ruled by BJP, like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Goa. Strangely in Jharkhand where BJP shares power with JMM, Sangma got the votes of only 20 MLAs. JMM voted for Mukherjee. The electoral college included 4120 MLAs in the states.