New Delhi: Ahead of the Presidential Polls on Thursday, the Janata Dal (Secular) has decided to abstain from voting.
These two parties backed out a day after UNPA decided to not participate in the process to elect a candidate to Raisina Hill.
The Trinamool Congress and UNPA ally Asom Gana Parishad will also abstain from voting in the poll.
The Election Commission said on Tuesday that individual MPs and MLAs can abstain from voting, but political parties could not direct their members to abstain.
The Election Commission also declared the eight-party UNPA's decision to abstain from voting in the Presidential polls as unconstitutional.
The Commission, after getting a complaint from BJP leaders, on Tuesday said that according to section 171A(b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) it is every individual’s right to decide whether he or she wants to vote or not.
Under Article 171 C of the IPC, political parties cannot order or issue whip to their members to vote in a particular manner or not to vote.
The UNPA or ‘Third Front’ on July 14 decided to abstain from the election, as it didn’t want to support either UPA candidate Pratibha Patil or Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
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