New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’ Brien on Thursday perhaps became the first Anglo-Indian to vote in the presidential poll as members of his community are mostly nominated to Parliament and Assemblies and have no right to participate in balloting for the top Constitutional post.
Lok Sabha, the House of 545 members, has two nominated members from the Anglo-Indian community. Some state Assemblies also have provisions for nominated members from the community.
Nominated members of Rajya Sabha as well as Lok Sabha are not eligible to vote for electing the President. The electoral college comprising MPs, MLAs and MLCs votes for the same.
O’Brien could vote as he is not a nominated member and has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.
He cast his ballot in Kolkata along with other Trinamool MPs of the state as they made a special request to do so in the West Bengal capital instead of in Delhi.
There are 12 nominated members, including cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, in Rajya Sabha who could not vote in the presidential elections.
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