E-Paper
NDA set to win VP poll on its own, but eyes wider support
Official candidates have always won the V-P election, sometimes, winning unopposed. But, the challenge for the Modi-led NDA is securing a high margin of victory
The National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) nominee CP Radhakrishnan is all set to win the upcoming Vice Presidential election, but it will be a challenge for the ruling dispensation to improve the victory margin against a united Opposition.
The polling for the Vice President election is scheduled for September 9, with the last date to file nominations on August 21. The Opposition had announced it would fight the poll — as all Opposition parties have contested regularly since 1997— and was waiting for the ruling dispensation to announce its candidate.
Since the first VP poll in 1952, official candidates have always won the election, sometimes, winning unopposed. But, the challenge for the Narendra Modi-led NDA is securing a high margin of victory.
In 2022, NDA’s VP nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar secured 74.3% votes against Margaret Alva — the highest share of votes since 1992 when Congress’s KR Narayanan got 99.86% votes.
But, the BJP with 240 seats in the Lok Sabha this year, down from 303 in 2019, will have to depend on fence sitters such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) to spruce up its numbers for Radhakrishnan.
As of now, the NDA has less than 55% votes on its own while fence sitters — BJD, AAP, YSRCP, BSP, BRS, ASP (KR), Shiromani Akali Dal, ZPM, MNF and independents — account for another 5.6% or 44 votes.
In the last five Vice President elections, the lowest victory margin was in 2002 when NDA’s Bhairon Singh Shekhawat won against Opposition candidate Sushil Kumar Shinde. Shekhawat got 454 or 59.82% votes, while Shinde secured 305 votes (40.18%).
The NDA will also look forward to cross voting to further improve its tally after fielding a candidate from Tamil Nadu, a state that will go to polls next year.
In the VP election and the President election, no party whip is allowed which gives lawmakers more flexibility to vote according to their personal preference. A whip means that a party can ask its lawmakers to vote in a certain way.
