Voting for the Vice Presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday. The results will be out by evening. Two candidates are in the fray for this election. CP Radhakrishnan represents the ruling party, the NDA, while B Sudarshan Reddy, a former Supreme Court Justice, is the candidate for the INDIA alliance. The contest is between these two, and the winner will be seated as the Vice President. Before the election, it’s important to understand the vote calculations.
There are 542 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 239 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Combining both houses, the total number of MPs eligible to vote is 781. To win, a candidate needs 391 votes. However, if the BJD (Biju Janata Dal) of Naveen Patnaik and the BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) of former Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao are excluded, the number of MPs voting comes down to 770, as both parties have decided to abstain from the election.
Accordingly, a candidate needs 386 votes to win. The NDA has a total of 425 MPs. Adding the support of Jagan Reddy’s party (11 MPs), the count reaches 436. On the other hand, the INDIA bloc has 324 MPs. This means there is a difference of 112 votes between the two.
It’s also important to note that there are currently 10 independent MPs and MPs who have distanced themselves from their parties, such as Swati Maliwal and Girdhari Lal Yadav, whose votes are uncertain. Overall, based on the figures, the NDA candidate’s victory appears to be a formality.
Shiromani Akali Dal Boycotts Election
The Shiromani Akali Dal has announced a boycott of the Vice Presidential election. A written statement issued by the Shiromani Akali Dal stated that Punjab is currently facing severe floods, but neither the Punjab government nor the central government has stood with the people of Punjab. Therefore, keeping in mind the sentiments of the people of Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal believes that this is the time to stand with the people of Punjab and not to participate in any election process.