NEW DELHI: NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan was on Tuesday elected as the 15th Vice-President of India bagging 452 votes against the opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy’s 300. Announcing the result, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer P C Mody said 767 MPs had cast their votes out of the total valid electors of 781. He said 752 ballots were valid and 15 were invalid, bringing down the required majority of first preference votes to 377.That Radhakrishnan would win the VP race was perhaps never in doubt given the numbers advantage that he had over Reddy. But there was still a lot of interest in the final results. The fact that VP polls are held without any party whip thereby leaving a window open for cross voting had instilled some hope in the opposition camp. If not an outright win, they could at least bank on “conscience vote” to attract some NDA MPs to their side and embarrass the ruling camp. The Telugu card was a thought out strategy to achieve this objective. Unfortunately, as the final results show, the strategy boomeranged. Instead of NDA MPs ditching their camp, it appears the INDIA bloc members responded to their “conscience”. The vote tally suggests some cross-voting in favour of Radhakrishnan. The BJP, which had silently ensured that all leaders associated with the ruling alliance voted in favour of NDA candidate, was quick to take digs at opposition’s pre-voting claims of unity within their ranks. Union minister Kiren Rijiju claimed “Many opposition parties have also voted for our NDA candidate. This is also a very good sign.” In fact, BJP claims that at least 15 opposition members voted for the NDA nominee. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh had earlier asserted that all 315 INDIA bloc MPs were in attendance for the vote. “The Opposition has stood united. ALL of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting. This is an unprecedented 100% turnout,” he said on X.Since this was a secret ballot, so who all cast conscience vote may perhaps be not known. But the opposition did admit that it suffered a dent, though not a significant one.”There has been a 14% increase in votes secured by this candidate (Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy) as compared to the last candidate. This candidate received 40% of the total votes, compared to 26% secured by the previous candidate. So the Opposition is only gaining; there will be a change…They (NDA) could not cause a significant dent … ,” Congress MP Imran Masood said. However, with Reddy managing only 300, the deficit of 15 votes raised questions. BJP leader Amit Malviya was quick to take pot shots at this claim. Soon after the results were out, he responded to Jairam’s post and wrote: “All 315 voted… but for whom is the real question! 🤔 Despite all the noise and bravado, the INDI Alliance candidate managed only 300 votes, 15 short of what they had confidently claimed. So much for tall claims and unity!” However, Jairam Ramesh put up a brave defence and claimed opposition performance had improved compared to last elections.”Opposition performance has undeniably been most respectable. Its joint candidate Justice (retd) B Sudershan Reddy secured 40% of the vote. In 2022, the Opposition had received 26% of the vote in the vice presidential elections,” Ramesh said.”The BJP’s arithmetical victory is really both a moral and political defeat. The ideological battle continues undiminished,” the Congress leader added. These claims notwithstanding, the fact remains that the opposition once again put up a poor show. Yes, 15 votes were declared invalid. But this does not explain the dip in INDIA bloc’s overall numbers. Moreover, there is still no clarity on how the AAP members, who had promised support to Reddy, have voted.So, while the results are not a surprise, the more than expected victory margin of C P Radhakrishnan is surely is a matter of concern for the opposition. Clearly, they still are far away from their claims of unity.(With inputs from agencies) Go to Source
