Date:20/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/20/stories/2008072059480800.htm

National

Members can correct mistake during voting

Special Correspondent

Rival camps ensuring presence of their members

In case of an error, vote can be cast on a paper slip
Slips will be manually checked if margin is thin

NEW DELHI: Members of Parliament who make a mistake when pressing the crucial button on their tables during the trust vote on July 22 will get an opportunity to “correct” their vote, if they so desire.

At the end of the two-day debate on July 22, once the Speaker orders the lobbies to be cleared to prepare for the vote, “MPs will be given exactly 10 seconds to press the button and vote electronically,” Lok Sabha Secretary-General P.D.T. Achary said. However, they would be able to see on a display board whether their vote was registered or not and also whether they pressed the “green” button for an ‘aye’ or the “red” button for a “nay.” If the vote failed to register or some mistake was committed inadvertently, they could “immediately” ask for a paper slip to cast their vote.

Lok Sabha Secretariat officials said that in case of a thin margin between ‘ayes’ and ‘nays’, the paper slips would be manually checked and counted before the Speaker announced the results.

If the margin was big, the Speaker might announce the result immediately, but the final count of votes would take some time.

With every vote crucial, both camps are making extraordinary efforts to ensure that all their MPs are present. Three Bharatiya Janata Party MPs in ICUs are to be “airlifted” along with their doctors, party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

However, of them, the film-star turned politician Dharmendra has reportedly telephoned the top party bosses to say it would not be possible for him to turn up as he is in hospital in the U.S. recovering after a knee-replacement surgery.

Apparently, the doctors of the other two MPs – Mahesh Kanodia and Harish Chandra Chauhan – are also reluctant to give clearance for them to travel.

Special arrangements

The Lok Sabha secretariat told The Hindu that till Saturday evening the BJP had asked for “special arrangements” to be made for the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to enable him to vote from the lobby of the Lok Sabha.

“No such request has as yet been made for any other MP,” a senior official said.

Hectic activity in both camps has revolved round shoring up additional strength as well as poaching on the “other” camp.