Hyderabad: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate CP Radhakrishnan won the vice presidential election, securing 452 votes. With this victory, he will become the 15th Vice President of India.
The results were announced by Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody. Radhakrishnan defeated opposition-backed candidate and retired Supreme Court judge B. Sudarshan Reddy, who received only 300 votes. The winning margin stood at 152 votes.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that significant cross-voting took place in the election. Congress had earlier asserted that all 315 INDIA bloc MPs would support Reddy, but the candidate fell short by 15 votes.
BRS, BJD and Akali Dal stayed away
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) did not participate in the voting. The BRS has 4 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, while the BJD has 7. In the Lok Sabha, the Shiromani Akali Dal’s lone MP also abstained, citing floods in Punjab as the reason.
Election held after Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation
The election was necessitated after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on 21 July, citing health reasons. His term was scheduled to run until 10 August 2027.
