Senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, MPs Shashi Tharoor and Priyanka Gandhi, and others, cast their votes on Tuesday for the 15th Vice Presidential elections at Parliament House.
The polling began at 10 a.m., with the counting of votes scheduled for 6 p.m. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to cast his vote this morning, followed by several Union ministers and MPs.
Congress is backing former Supreme Court judge Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has fielded former Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan. NDA allies such as the TDP and JD(U) are supporting Radhakrishnan, giving him a numerical edge.
TDP MP Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu told reporters that all 18 of his party MPs planned to vote within the first hour, expressing confidence not only in an NDA victory but also in a margin of 80 to 100 votes. He also predicted cross-voting in favour of the NDA.
Earlier in the day, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, J.P. Nadda, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Pralhad Joshi cast their votes. Congress chief Kharge was seen exchanging greetings with Gadkari inside the Parliament complex. Union ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jitan Ram Manjhi also voiced confidence in Radhakrishnan’s win.
“NDA candidate C.P. Radhakrishnan will surely win the Vice-President elections,” Manjhi said.
Also Read : PM Modi casts first vote in Vice President elections
The election comes 50 days after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from the post of Vice President on 21 July, citing health concerns. His sudden resignation created a vacancy in the Rajya Sabha chairmanship, making today’s contest significant.
Opposition leaders, however, accused the BJP of sidelining Dhankhar. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the BJP followed a “use-and-throw” policy, saying, “The entire country knows that the BJP is a use-and-throw party. The same thing happened with the Vice President, who is missing. The numbers will be in our favour.”
Both the NDA and opposition had conducted mock polls in advance, instructing MPs to take care to avoid invalid votes. Current parliamentary strength indicates that 424 MPs are likely to support Radhakrishnan, well above the majority mark of 391.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) have abstained from the polls, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) announced a boycott, citing public discontent in Punjab.
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