VP Poll Today: NDA Confident, INDIA Bloc Fields Reddy
New Delhi
Parliament is preparing for a high-stakes contest to fill the vice-presidential vacancy created by Jagdeep Dhankhar’s abrupt July resignation. Voting will be held today, with Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan representing the ruling National Democratic Alliance and former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy standing for the opposition INDIA bloc.
Polling for all 786 members of the electoral college — 543 Lok Sabha MPs (one seat vacant) and 245 Rajya Sabha members (five seats vacant) — will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., followed by counting at 6 p.m. Victory requires 394 votes. NDA’s bloc strength exceeds 422, ensuring a clear numerical advantage as the BJP-led alliance commands 293 members in the Lok Sabha and 129 in the Rajya Sabha. The BRS and BJD have chosen to remain neutral.
Dhankhar resigned on July 21 citing health reasons, vacating an office he had held since 2022 under Article 67(a) of the Constitution.
The NDA’s candidate, 68-year-old Radhakrishnan, an OBC leader from Tamil Nadu’s Goundar-Kongu Vellalar community, is a veteran BJP parliamentarian with two Lok Sabha terms (1998, 1999) and has served as Maharashtra governor since July 2024.
The INDIA bloc has put forward 79-year-old Sudershan Reddy, a retired Supreme Court judge noted for landmark rulings on black-money probes and for striking down the Chhattisgarh government’s Salwa Judum anti-Naxal militia.
With numbers stacked firmly in the NDA’s favour, Today’s vote is widely expected to deliver Radhakrishnan the vice-presidential chair.
