Daijiworld Media Network- New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 9: Voting for the vice presidential election is underway on Tuesday, with lawmakers choosing between BJP-led NDA candidate and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan and the INDIA bloc’s nominee, former Supreme Court judge Justice B Sudershan Reddy.
However, three key regional parties — Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — have announced that they will abstain from voting. The election was necessitated following the sudden resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The BJD, led by former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, said its decision to abstain is in line with its long-standing policy of maintaining “equal distance” from both the BJP-led NDA and the Congress-led INDIA bloc. The party has seven MPs in the Rajya Sabha and no representation in the Lok Sabha.
The BRS, headed by former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, cited “anguish of farmers” over shortage of urea as its reason for boycotting the election. Party working president KT Rama Rao said, “Despite repeated warnings, neither the Centre nor the state government has acted. As a mark of protest and in solidarity with 71 lakh Telangana farmers, we have decided to abstain. If NOTA was an option, we would have chosen it.” The BRS has four MPs in the Rajya Sabha and none in the Lok Sabha.
The SAD too kept away from the poll, expressing disappointment over the “lack of assistance” from both the Centre and the AAP-led Punjab government in tackling the “unprecedented floods” in the state. SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the party’s lone representative in Parliament, said Punjabis are fighting the disaster “without any help” from state or Centre.
Meanwhile, the electoral college for the vice presidential election comprises 781 members (245 from Rajya Sabha, 543 from Lok Sabha, including 12 nominated members, with seven seats vacant). The majority mark stands at 391. The NDA commands the support of 293 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 129 in the Rajya Sabha, while the INDIA bloc has backing from around 325 parliamentarians.