Voting for the Vice President’s election is scheduled for September 9th. Polling will take place from 10 am to 5 pm, with the counting of votes commencing at 6 pm. The results are expected to be announced by the evening. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has nominated C.P. Radhakrishnan as its candidate, while the India bloc has put forward B. Sudarshan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge.
Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will cast their votes in the Vice Presidential election. This includes nominated members of the Rajya Sabha. There is no whip issued for this election, and the voting is conducted through a secret ballot, allowing MPs to vote according to their discretion. However, votes are generally cast along party lines, though cross-voting has occurred in previous elections and is a possibility this time as well.
With 239 members in the Rajya Sabha and 542 in the Lok Sabha, a victory requires 391 votes. The NDA currently holds 425 MPs and is confident of securing additional votes from other parties. The YSRCP has announced its intention to vote in favor of the NDA, holding 7 Rajya Sabha and 4 Lok Sabha MPs. This brings the NDA’s support to 436 MPs. The BJP anticipates that Aam Aadmi Party member Swati Maliwal might also vote for the NDA.
Meanwhile, the BJD has not yet finalized its stance. The BRS has decided to abstain from voting in the Vice Presidential election. The BJD might support the NDA, and its leader, Naveen Patnaik, is in Delhi, potentially discussing support for the NDA with BJP leaders. The BRS has 4 Rajya Sabha MPs, and the BJD has 7.
The Lok Sabha’s 7 independent members have yet to declare their voting intentions, and the positions of the Akali Dal, ZPM, and VOTTP, each with one MP, are also unclear. The opposition currently holds 324 votes, and the margin of victory is expected to be between one hundred and one hundred and twenty-five votes.
In the 2022 election, Jagdeep Dhankhar defeated the opposition’s Margaret Alva by 346 votes. The margin of victory is expected to be smaller this time because the opposition is in a stronger position than before.
The NDA sources indicate that the opposition candidate is expected to receive around 150 votes in the Rajya Sabha and is anticipated to receive fewer than 90 votes. The NDA and the India bloc are conducting training sessions and mock polls for their MPs to ensure that every vote is valid and to prevent any votes from being invalidated.