Before the counting of votes for the vice-presidential elections began on Tuesday, the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) strength in Parliament stood at 427.
But when the votes were counted, the votes secured by CP Radhakrishnan stood at 452. The NDA was expected to get the support of the YSR Congress Party (which has four lawmakers in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha). But even then, its tally would have touched 438.
So where did it get the additional 14 votes from? Many theories did the rounds.
While 15 votes were declared invalid, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders said there was cross voting in favour of Radhakrishnan by opposition lawmakers from several states, including Jharkhand and Maharashtra, where Radhakrishnan had served as governor. “There was some sentiment favouring him in both the states…” said a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary.
Also Read | The making of Tamil Nadu’s ‘second’ Radhakrishnan
Some Opposition leaders blamed the Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) though both parties refuted the allegations.
Union minister Piyush Goyal told a television channel that the NDA got an additional 25 votes, demonstrating that some opposition leaders chose to vote for Radhakrishnan. He was counting the 11 votes of the YSR Congress and the 14 additional votes.
“The NDA’s strength in both houses combined was 427 and got 25 more votes. This clearly demonstrates that the Prime Minister’s policies and leadership of the nation…taking the country on the path of progress, prosperity and inclusive growth resonates even with the members against NDA and BJP,” Goyal said.
{{/usCountry}}“The NDA’s strength in both houses combined was 427 and got 25 more votes. This clearly demonstrates that the Prime Minister’s policies and leadership of the nation…taking the country on the path of progress, prosperity and inclusive growth resonates even with the members against NDA and BJP,” Goyal said.
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | B Sudershan Reddy says ‘ideological battle to continue with vigour’ after defeat in VP polls
A second person aware of the details said the BJP and its allies had carried out an intensive campaign to seek votes for Radhakrishnan. “There is no whip, but some parties such as the DMK, the TMC and the RJD were vocal about their preference of supporting the INDIA bloc candidate. The voting pattern and 15 votes being found invalid shows that there are chinks in the Opposition’s so-called unity,” said the second person.
To be sure, 15 votes were found invalid even in the 2022 poll. The highest number of invalid votes, 46, was recorded in 1997.
The BJP’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Sanjay Jaiswal, said the NDA nominee won 452 votes because he received support from some Opposition MPs.
“About 40 MPs belonging to the opposition camp supported the NDA’s vice presidential candidate Radhakrishnan, listening to their conscience…We express gratitude towards them also,” he told news agency PTI. He appeared to be counting all 15 invalid votes as well as the 25 additional votes.
“Despite our strength of 427, we got 452 votes. This indicates that our candidate had wider acceptance,” the BJP leader added.
As per the Rajya Sabha secretariat, there were 788 electors, 245 from the Upper House and 543 from Lok Sabha. There are six vacancies in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha, bringing the strength of the electoral college to 781.
Of the 781 electors, 767 electors cast their votes. Fifteen were invalid and 14 lawmakers abstained. This included seven members of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Four of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), one from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and two independents –– both from Punjab.