Senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shashi Tharoor, and others cast their votes on Tuesday in the ongoing election for India’s 15th Vice President.
The polling began at 10 am inside Parliament House, with counting scheduled for 6 pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to cast his vote, followed by several ministers and MPs.
Congress is backing opposition candidate Justice (Retd) B Sudershan Reddy, while the BJP-led NDA has fielded CP Radhakrishnan, former Governor of Maharashtra. With support from NDA allies including TDP and JD(U), numbers are stacked in favour of Radhakrishnan.
TDP MP Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu said, “I am confident our NDA candidate will win with a margin of over 80–100 votes. Cross-voting will happen from opposition parties too.”
On the other hand, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the BJP treated former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with a “use-and-throw” approach, adding that “numbers are fine but voting is done on conscience.”
Earlier in the day, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, JP Nadda, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Pralhad Joshi exercised their franchise. Gadkari was seen greeting Kharge with a handshake at Parliament.
Meanwhile, Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jitan Ram Manjhi reiterated confidence in Radhakrishnan’s victory, with Chouhan declaring, “NDA’s win is certain.”
The NDA currently holds a comfortable majority, with 424 MPs likely to back Radhakrishnan, surpassing the majority mark of 391. Opposition candidate Reddy is supported by 354 MPs.
Parties like BJD and BRS have abstained, while the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) announced a boycott, citing public anger in Punjab over flood relief.
The election comes 50 days after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as Vice President on July 21 citing health concerns.