BJP CMs to resign as MPs only after casting their vote in presidential polls

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar may have left national politics to lead as the chief of their respective state , but they are likely to step down from their parliamentary seats only after casting their vote in the presidential election.

With every vote important in the election for which the opposition parties are working to close their ranks behind a common candidate, the BJP wants both the leaders to cast their votes in the poll before putting in their papers, party sources said.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, also a Lok Sabha member, will also resign following the presidential election.

The UP and Goa chief ministers besides Maurya have to be elected to the legislature in their states within six months since they were sworn in and the window is long enough for them to remain parliamentarians till the presidential election in July.

They can contest elections to the state legislature only after quitting as MPs.

Parrikar was sworn in as Goa CM on March 14 and Adityanath and Maurya as UP chief minister and deputy chief minister on March 19.

The presidential election is due in July and the poll to the post of the vice president is scheduled for August.

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The electoral college for picking the vice president is clearly in the BJP-led NDA’s favour with the alliance having 418 members out of the total 787, the combined strength of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The NDA has crossed the majority mark in the electoral college for the presidential poll too after the YSRCP, an Andhra Pradesh party headed by Jagan Mohan Reddy announced his party’s support to the ruling combine and the TSR, which ruled Telangana, indicated that it will follow suit.

The BJP is also hopeful of getting the support of both the factions of AIADMK, which is in power in Tamil Nadu.

However, it has to make provisions for its mercurial ally Shiv Sena, which in the past two elections has not voted with its bigger ally in the presidential election.

Also Read | Presidential polls: Shiv Sena’s total vote pool could prove to be crucial for BJP