Rijiju thanks opposition MPs for VP vote, Congress ‘admits’ cross-voting

NEW DELHI: The mystery over cross-voting from the opposition camp for NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan took an interesting turn a day after the vice-presidential election as a BJP MP and minister on Wednesday thanked some INDIA bloc MPs for voting for the govt candidate. This prompted Congress to ask whether cross-voting was because of the fear of agencies – in the process accepting that some of its allies did jump ship.Radhakrishnan was on Tuesday elected India’s 15th Vice-President, defeating joint opposition candidate and former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy.Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju than-ked some INDIA bloc members for voting with “conscience” for Radhakrishnan. Shiv Sena (Shinde) MP Shrikant Shinde also thanked MPs of INDIA and MVA bl-ocs for voting “with consc-ience” for the govt nominee.The MVA is the opposition alliance in Maharashtra that comprises Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), and Shinde appeared to be hinting at some MPs belonging to the regional parties.Manickam Tagore, Congress whip in Lok Sabha, called it a case of “vote chori” in the VP polls. “Why is Shinde thanking INDIA MPs for voting with NDA? Why is minister Kiren Rijiju celebrating ‘conscience votes’ from opposition MPs? Is this really conscience? Or is this CBI/ED pressure and horse trading being justified as conscience?” he said. “From Karnataka’s Bengaluru Central to Aadhaar-linked voter suppression to now the vice-presidential polls, is the Modi-Shah model only about winning through ‘vote chori’? Will democracy survive if ministers boast about stealing votes instead of respecting mandate?” he asked.Congress sources said it was difficult to establish who specifically cross-voted in the secret ballot without party whip, even though suspicions do exist about some parties.But Tagore’s public wrangling with BJP and allies, including a minister, appeared to concede cross-voting by specific parties.