Gangtok: A special session of Sikkim Assembly will be held today on July19,2007 to enable its members and any other visiting MLA or M.P.from other Indian constituency to cast their ballot-papers for voting in election of President of India.Sikkim Democratic Front is supporting UPA candidate Smt. Pratima Patil for the post of President of India.
In today's election ballot paper where a member has to mark '1' against the name of the candidate of his/her choice .With more than a dozen parties, accounting for over 6.32 lakh votes in the electoral college, supporting Pa til's candidature, the Congress is not worried about cross-voting. Instead, its prime concern is to ensure the ballots are marked properly. And it is not as easy as it may sound. The elector is supposed to mark '1' against his/her candidate's name. Putting a tick mark in the box, spelling out the number, rewriting, overwriting or slashing it would make the vote invalid. The value of an Uttar Pradesh MLA's vote is the highest at 208, and that of a Sikkim MLA's vote is the lowest at 7.
Today is billed as a proud and historic day for Indian women, as lawmakers prepare to vote on Thursday for the country's first ever female president. Patil, who campaigned in 21 states, did not go to her home state Maharashtra where the Shiv Sena is backing her. "What will happen to our Muslim vote if she is shown with Bal Thackeray," he asked. Battling BJP's charges of financial irregularities, the Congress ensured that in keeping with the EC's guidelines, Patil did not use any government machinery for campaigning. She flew in private jets, met MPs and MLAs in hotels or party offices and attended dinners — all bankrolled by the Congress