New Delhi
As the vice-presidential election scheduled for September 9 draws near, Opposition MPs are set to participate in a mock poll today to familiarise themselves with the voting procedure, followed by a dinner hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The mock poll will take place at 2:30 PM in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan, while the dinner is slated for 7:30 PM at the Parliament annexe, sources from the INDIA bloc said.
The election is a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and the joint Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy. Both candidates hail from southern India, with Radhakrishnan from Tamil Nadu and Reddy from Telangana. Opposition leaders have described the contest as an ideological battle, though numerical strength heavily favours the NDA.
Polling will be conducted in Room No. F-101, Vasudha, Parliament House, from 10 AM to 5 PM, under the supervision of Rajya Sabha Secretary-General P C Mody, who serves as the returning officer. Counting of votes will begin at 6 PM, with results declared immediately thereafter.
Radhakrishnan, a BJP veteran and Maharashtra governor, is pitted against 79-year-old Sudershan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge known for landmark rulings on black money cases, Naxal-related policies, and social justice. Reddy has also chaired the caste survey committee in Telangana.
The electoral college comprises 788 members, including 233 elected and 12 nominated Rajya Sabha members, and 543 elected Lok Sabha members. Congress and its allies are projecting Reddy as a principled advocate for social, economic, and political justice, making the race a symbolic contest of values as well as numbers.
Kharge accuses EC of aiding voter fraud
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accused the Election Commission (EC) of blocking key evidence in a Karnataka voter fraud probe. He claimed the EC is acting like the BJP’s “back office for vote theft.” The issue concerns 5,994 fake voter deletion applications in the Aland Assembly seat before the 2023 elections. Kharge said the EC is denying the Karnataka CID access to digital records. Congress leader KC Venugopal also criticised the EC for failing to uphold election fairness. Rahul Gandhi supported the claims, promising more evidence soon. The Congress has called the alleged fraud a “daylight robbery” of democracy.
