Sunday, December 21, 2025
ADVT 
India

Presidential Election 2017: AAP MLA HS Phoolka Only One In Punjab Not To Cast Vote

Darpan News Desk, 17 Jul, 2017 11:38 AM
    HS Phoolka, MLA from Dakha in Punjab, abstained from voting as he had already declared that he would not vote for Congress-led opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar since he was fighting cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
     
     
    Aam Aadmi Party's HS Phoolka was the only MLA in the 117-member Punjab Assembly not to cast his vote for the presidential election today while in Haryana all the 90 legislators exercised their franchise.
     
     
    Mr Phoolka, MLA from Dakha in Punjab, abstained from voting as he had already declared that he would not vote for Congress-led opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar since he was fighting cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
     
     
    The AAP, which has 20 MLAs in Punjab, has already announced its support to Ms Kumar, a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, who is contesting against ruling NDA's Ram Nath Kovind for the country's top constitutional post.
     
     
    Out of the total 117 members in the Punjab Assembly, 116 cast their votes, election officials said.
     
     
    The Congress, which stormed to power in Punjab in March after a gap of 10 years, has 77 MLAs in the Assembly, while the SAD-BJP coalition has 18 MLAs (15 of Shiromani Akali Dal and three of BJP).
     
     
    AAP's ally, the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), has two MLAs.
     
     
    Among the Lok Sabha members from Punjab, the Congress has four and the SAD has three. The BJP had two but recently, its Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna passed away.
     
     
    The AAP has four Lok Sabha members from Punjab, of whom two have been suspended by the party.
     
     
    In the Rajya Sabha, the Congress and the SAD have three members each from Punjab, while the BJP has a lone member from the state in the Upper House of Parliament.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Sikh Radicals Raise Khalistan Slogans, Clash With SGPC As Harjit Sajjan Visits Harmandir Sahib

    Sikh Radicals Raise Khalistan Slogans, Clash With SGPC As Harjit Sajjan Visits Harmandir Sahib
    The Canadian Defence Minister avoided the radical elements and was received by top SGPC functionaries, including its President Kirpal Singh Badungar, to a red carpet welcome

    Sikh Radicals Raise Khalistan Slogans, Clash With SGPC As Harjit Sajjan Visits Harmandir Sahib

    10 ISIS Suspects Held After Police Raids At Mumbai, Jalandhar, 4 Other Places

    10 ISIS Suspects Held After Police Raids At Mumbai, Jalandhar, 4 Other Places
    Ten suspected Islamic State sympathisers were arrested while several others were detained during joint anti-terror raids on Thursday in four states for plotting major terror strikes, a senior police officer said.

    10 ISIS Suspects Held After Police Raids At Mumbai, Jalandhar, 4 Other Places

    Capt Amarinder Singh Meets PM Modi, Seeks Nod To Sell Power To Pakistan, Nepal

    Capt Amarinder Singh Meets PM Modi, Seeks Nod To Sell Power To Pakistan, Nepal
    Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to allow the Punjab government to sell surplus power to Pakistan or Nepal in the financial interest of the cash-strapped state.

    Capt Amarinder Singh Meets PM Modi, Seeks Nod To Sell Power To Pakistan, Nepal

    Rahul Gandhi Unfit To Lead: Jolt For Congress, Barkha Singh Quits Party Post, Blames Rahul, Maken

    Rahul Gandhi Unfit To Lead: Jolt For Congress, Barkha Singh Quits Party Post, Blames Rahul, Maken
    In another setback to the Delhi Congress with the civic polls due on Sunday, its women wing chief Barkha Singh quit the post, and hit out at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and the party's Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken.

    Rahul Gandhi Unfit To Lead: Jolt For Congress, Barkha Singh Quits Party Post, Blames Rahul, Maken

    SEE PICS: Harjit Singh Sajjan At Harmandar Sahib, Gets Cold Shoulder From Punjab Government

    SEE PICS: Harjit Singh Sajjan At Harmandar Sahib, Gets Cold Shoulder From Punjab Government
    No Punjab minister or senior state government official either welcomed Sajjan to his native state or accompanied him on his visits to various places, including to the Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple) or to his native village Bombeli in Hoshiarpur district

    SEE PICS: Harjit Singh Sajjan At Harmandar Sahib, Gets Cold Shoulder From Punjab Government

    Capt Amarinder-led Punjab Government Scraps Khalsa University Act

    Capt Amarinder-led Punjab Government Scraps Khalsa University Act
    The Punjab government has decided to scrap the controversial Khalsa University Act, 2016, "to save the Khalsa College from losing its heritage status by falling prey to privatisation".

    Capt Amarinder-led Punjab Government Scraps Khalsa University Act