Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy has claimed that three members of Parliament of Congress admitted to voting for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA, CP Radhakrishnan, in the Vice President elections held on September 9 on instructions of Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy, reported India Today.
“Three Congress MPs personally told me that they voted for the BJP in the Vice President elections at the instruction of Revanth Reddy. They even asked me to hold a press meet and disclose this to everyone,” the report quoted the BRS MLA as saying on Tuesday.
He also claimed that cross-voting that allegedly happened during the polls went beyond just a few numbers and that 15 of Congress’ MPs were “sold out”, out of which, eight were from Telangana.
“When I called some of my Congress friends, they told me that 15 Congress MPs were sold out. Among them, all 8 Congress MPs from Telangana have also been sold out,” Kaushik Reddy claimed.
Kaushik Reddy also alleged that some Congress MPs even met union ministers and Lok Sabha speaker and told them that they cross-voted. He said this was done “as part of the teacher-disciple understanding between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy, who was with the Telugu Desam Party till 2016,” reported the Hindu.
{{/usCountry}}Kaushik Reddy also alleged that some Congress MPs even met union ministers and Lok Sabha speaker and told them that they cross-voted. He said this was done “as part of the teacher-disciple understanding between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy, who was with the Telugu Desam Party till 2016,” reported the Hindu.
{{/usCountry}}The BRS MLA’s allegations come after NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan won the vice president polls against Congress-led INDIA bloc’s candidate Sudershan Reddy, a retired Supreme Court judge.
While CP Radhakrishnan bagged 452 votes, Reddy got 300 votes, even though the NDA had the support of only 427 MPs on paper. Additionally, 11 MPs from the YSRCP also voted for CP Radhakrishnan. The NDA nominee still bagged 14 extra votes, which fuelled speculation of cross-voting from the Opposition ranks.