“The mystery of 15 missing votes from B Sudershan Reddy’s count. Before the counting, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “The Opposition has stood united. ALL of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting. This is an unprecedented 100% turnout”
India on Tuesday got its 15th Vice President with BJP-led NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan securing 452 first-preference votes and defeating opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 votes. The opposition candidate, former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, got 300 votes out of the total 767 votes cast in the election.
On Tuesday members of Parliament from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, cast their votes via secret ballot. “The Opposition has stood united. ALL of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting. This is an unprecedented 100% turnout,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said before the counting.
Returning officer and Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody announced that a total of 767 votes were cast in the election, of which 15 were declared invalid. He said that Radhakrishnan got 452 first preference votes, compared to Reddy’s 300. The majority mark was 377.
Whether these 15 votes belonged to the INDIA Bloc or the NDA alliance is not known, the fact is Reddy should have got 315 votes but instead he polled 300 votes.
According to the current strength of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Radhakrishnan was expected to get a minimum of 427 votes from the NDA MPs. With the support of Jagan Reddy’s YSR Congress (11 MPs), he would have gotten 438. If votes of Independent and other neutral MPs were also counted, he should have secured 449 votes but he got 452 votes.
Currently, the Parliament comprises 781 members, including 542 in the Lok Sabha with one seat vacant and 239 in the Rajya Sabha with five seats vacant.
The election was necessitated by the abrupt resignation of incumbent Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in July, creating an early vacancy that required an interim election under constitutional provisions.
The contest—a direct face-off between Radhakrishnan, currently serving as Governor of Maharashtra and a seasoned BJP veteran, and INDIA Bloc candidate B Sudershan Reddy a former Supreme Court judge—was being watched closely.
Radhakrishnan’s victory consolidates the NDA’s influence in parliamentary proceedings. As Vice President, he will also serve as the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha
Described as a ‘Pachai Tamizhan’ (true-blue Tamil) by well-wishers, Radhakrishnan was serving as the Governor of Maharashtra when he was named as the vice-presidential nominee of the BJP-led NDA. Radhakrishnan (67) belongs to the Gounder community — an influential OBC group in Tamil Nadu and his presence is expected to help the BJP gain ground in the state where it has limited presence. His election on Tuesday does not carry a surprise as the numbers were already stacked up for him but it sends out key signals that go far beyond the election for the post
Radhakrishnan’s win underscores a renewed southward foray of the BJP as Tamil Nadu goes to polls next year. Plus, the party has chosen lifelong loyalty in RSS veteran Radhakrishnan, which means a clean break from someone like Jagdeep Dhankhar. The fact that 15 of its members voted in favour of the NDA candidate is also a message for the INDIA Bloc.
As many as 13 MPs abstained from voting. They included MPs from BJD, BRS, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and an Independent.
