New Delhi : C.P. Radhakrishnan emerged victorious in the Vice President election, raising concerns about the Opposition’s claimed unity and voting patterns.
According to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P.C. Mody, Radhakrishnan secured 452 first preference votes, comfortably crossing the required 391 votes to win. His opponent, Justice (Retd.) B. Sudershan Reddy, the joint INDIA bloc candidate, received 300 votes.
Opposition’s Unity Claims Under Scrutiny
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had claimed on X that all 315 Opposition MPs participated, calling it an “unprecedented show of unity.” He stated: “The Opposition has stood united. ALL of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting. This is an unprecedented 100% turnout.” He added that their candidate secured 40% of votes compared to 26% in 2022, framing it as a moral victory despite NDA’s win.
Cross-Voting Raises Concerns
However, with only 300 votes cast for the INDIA bloc candidate, 15 votes appear unaccounted for, suggesting possible cross-voting in favor of the NDA. This quietly breaks the Opposition’s public narrative of unity and indicates internal fissures.
This development carries strategic implications for the INDIA bloc as it prepares for upcoming Assembly elections and finalizes seat-sharing arrangements. The identity of the 15 MPs who may have cross-voted could become a matter of internal review and potentially public scrutiny.
While the NDA celebrates a comfortable victory, the Opposition’s attempt to frame the outcome as a “moral triumph” seems undermined by the numbers. The INDIA bloc leadership now faces the challenge of addressing trust deficits and internal cohesion as political battles intensify.
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