Numbers Game: Cross voting worries Opposition as Draupadi Murmu clocks emphatic win

In the backdrop of the towering victory of NDA's Presidential candidate, Draupadi Murmu on Thursday, apart from the consolidated support from the NDA, also lies an uncanny mismatch of numbers. While votes from NDA and others decidedly backing Murmu accumulated to 523, she received 540 - an evidence of cross-voting.

New Delhi: New Delhi: In the Presidential elections held on Thursday, NDA candidate Draupadi Murmu, bagged nearly all-third of all votes, with 2161 votes, out of the total 3219, going her way. Apart from the NDA votes, however, the first-ever tribal face to hold President's office, gained a push through cross-voting as well.

The show of strength for Murmu in Lok Sabha constituted of BJP (303), BSP (10), BJD (2), JDU (16), AIADMK (1), JMM (1), DP (3), Shiv Sena (19), YSR Congress (22), LJP (6), SAD (2), and Apna Dal (2). The vote from the collective, in total, stood to be 397. meanwhile, in rajya sabha BJP has 91 members. NDA allies include JDU (5), BJD (9), AIADMK (4), and BSP (1). Apart from this, other parties who backed the Odisha-born Presidential candidate included JMM (2), TDP (1), RPI (1), and Shiv Sena (3) - in finality backing by 117 members of rajya Sabha. The final numbers from both upper and lower houses, when combined, propel the count to 514.

Few independent members also had declared support to Murmu. Thus the total support comes out to be 529 for the NDA candidate in both the houses. Two MPs each from BJP, SS and BSP didn't vote. So the total support comes out as 523. Draupadi Murmu got 540 votes and that indicates that she got extra support from 17 others

Additionally, a total of 126 MLAs from the Opposition cross-voted for Murmu. The task of finding out which Members of the Parliament from the Opposition ranks voted for Murmu, however, remains a tricky task, as voting during Presidential elections remains private, with numbers unavailable to the public, and neither is any whip issued for it.

The situation does not appear to paint a rosy picture for the Opposition, however, as the development comes days after a rebellion in Maharashtra saw the Shiv Sena practically breaking into two halves, with the Eknath Shinde-led group going on to forge an alliance with the BJP and form the new government in the state. Add to the scenario Trinamool Congress' announcement - earlier in the day - to abstain from voting in Vice Presidential polls owing to them allegedly being kept in the dark regarding the selection of Margaret Alva as VP candidate, and dreams of a stable, united front rising against BJP in 2024 General Elections sounds bleak.