As voting began on Tuesday in the 15th Vice Presidential election, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the country is still awaiting an address from former Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned on July 21 citing health reasons.
Ramesh argued that Dhankhar’s resignation was “unprecedented and unexpected,” and claimed it came after he expressed concerns about the Narendra Modi government’s alleged neglect of farmers.
“For 50 days now, Jagdeep Dhankhar has maintained an uncharacteristic silence. Today, as the election for his successor gets underway, the nation continues to wait for him to speak out after his unprecedented and unexpected resignation as VP following the expression of his concerns on the deep neglect of farmers by the Modi Govt, on the dangers posed by ‘ahankar’ of those in power, etc,” Ramesh, General Secretary in-charge of Communications for Congress, posted on X.
Opposition leaders have repeatedly claimed that Dhankhar has been “silenced” and have raised questions about his whereabouts. His resignation triggered the current race for the Vice Presidential office.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Sachin Pilot told reporters in Raipur: “Why are the Vice Presidential elections being held? Where is the former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar? NDA has to work very hard to prove its majority in the elections, as the INDIA alliance’s Vice Presidential candidate, B Sudershan Reddy, is very strong. I am hopeful that the results will be in our favour.”
The election is set to be a contest between NDA nominee and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan and former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, the INDIA bloc’s joint candidate. The counting of votes is scheduled for Tuesday evening.
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Both the BJP-led NDA and opposition parties held mock polls ahead of voting day, instructing MPs to exercise caution to avoid invalid ballots.
The NDA is widely seen as having the numerical edge. Party leaders say Radhakrishnan is expected to secure around 427 votes, comfortably above the majority mark of 391. In the Lok Sabha, he is expected to gain 293 votes, while 134 votes are likely to be cast in his favour in the Rajya Sabha.
Reddy is backed by 354 MPs from the opposition bloc, including 249 from the lower house and 105 from the upper house.
The electoral college for the Vice Presidential election currently stands at 781 members, with 542 MPs in the Lok Sabha (one seat vacant) and 239 MPs in the Rajya Sabha (five seats vacant).
Several parties have opted to stay out of the contest. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has announced it will abstain, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) said it would not take part.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) declared it would boycott the vote, citing widespread anger in Punjab over what it described as a lack of support from both the central and state governments during the ongoing flood crisis.
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