Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Parliament House on Tuesday morning, accompanied by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, to cast his vote in the Vice Presidential election.
PM Modi voted in support of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee, C.P. Radhakrishnan, who is widely expected to secure a comfortable majority with the backing of major alliance partners.
Voting is taking place inside Parliament House, with the counting of ballots scheduled for later in the day on the first floor of the same building. The election holds considerable political significance, as the Vice President also serves as the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Immediately after casting his vote, Modi is set to travel to flood-affected regions of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. At least 51 people have died in Punjab due to flood-related incidents. Initial government assessments estimate losses at around ₹780 crore, with widespread damage to farmland, property, and healthcare infrastructure, including hospitals and dispensaries.
Radhakrishnan, currently Governor of Maharashtra, is facing opposition from former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, who has been fielded by the INDIA bloc as their joint candidate. While the INDIA bloc hopes for cross-voting in its favour, the numbers clearly tilt towards the NDA candidate.
Radhakrishnan is projected to secure about 427 votes, comfortably above the majority mark of 391. He is expected to receive 293 votes from the Lok Sabha and 134 from the Rajya Sabha.
In comparison, the INDIA bloc’s candidate, B. Sudershan Reddy, is backed by 354 MPs, comprising 249 from the Lower House and 105 from the Upper House.
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The current strength of Parliament stands at 781 members, including 542 in the Lok Sabha, with one seat vacant, and 239 in the Rajya Sabha, with five vacancies.
Ahead of the vote, Radhakrishnan offered prayers at the Shree Ram Mandir in Delhi’s Lodhi Road and expressed confidence in victory. “The elections are taking place. It is going to be a big victory for Indian nationalism. We are all one, we will be one and we want India to become ‘Viksit Bharat’,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have chosen to abstain from voting in this election. BJP MPs have voiced confidence in Radhakrishnan’s victory.
In Punjab, state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh highlighted the catastrophic impact of the floods ahead of Modi’s visit.
Singh revealed that medicines worth ₹130 crore were destroyed, while 1,280 dispensaries and health and wellness centres, 101 community health centres, and 31 of the state’s 41 sub-divisional hospitals were severely damaged, adding to the overall estimated losses of around ₹780 crore.
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