``I acted keeping in mind the provisions of anti-defection law. Had I abstained from voting in the face of the whip issued by the party, I would have been disqualified under the law,'' Gamang told PTI in an interview.

He said, ``Party's conscience is my conscience. So where does the question of personal conscience arise?'' ``I am a member of a political party and a member of Parliament. A member of the House has voting right as long as he enjoys the membership,'' he said when asked whether precedent allowed a member holding the office of a minister in a legislative assembly to participate in the proceedings of Parliament.

Gamang said the precedents about ministers not being allowed to participate in theproceedings of the House were prior to enactment of the anti-defection Act.

``So I was legally and constitutionally bound to vote according to the party directive,'' he said.

The Orissa CM said the Speaker did not have the power to take away the voting right of a member ``unless he is disqualified under the provisions of the Constitution''.

When told that he was the hero of the day for Congress, Gamang, who has got elected to Lok Sabha for a record eighth time, said, ``in politics there are no heroes, heroes figure only on the silver screen.''

Speaker GMC Balayogi today left it to Gamang after BJP and its allies raised a furore over the voting right of Gamang on the ground that he was holding the post of Orissa chief minister.

Justifying his casting the vote in the House today, Gamang said ``As long as I do not have the voting right in Orissa Assembly, and as long as I enjoy the membership of Lok Sabha, I will continue to have a vote in the House.''

``Legally and constitutionally it ispermissible for a member to hold two offices simultaneously (chief minister and MP) as it had happened in the past,'' he said and cited the example of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda who while being the member of Karnataka Assembly also held the post of the prime minister.