It will be a day of numbers, loyalties and quiet suspense as MPs gather this morning to elect India’s 14th Vice President, a contest that pits NDA’s CP Radhakrishnan against the INDIA bloc’s Justice B Sudershan Reddy. Voting begins at 10 am inside Parliament House, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi casting the first ballot before heading to flood-hit Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Polling runs until 5 pm, counting starts an hour later, and by nightfall the country will have a new Vice President and Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
The election comes fifty days after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from the post on July 21, citing health reasons. His resignation, submitted under Article 67(a) of the Constitution, took effect immediately. The vacancy triggered a fresh contest for the nation’s second-highest constitutional office, and with it, a political test of strength between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc.
HOW THE NUMBERS LINE UP
The electoral college comprises 781 MPs – 238 from the Rajya Sabha and 542 from the Lok Sabha – after accounting for current vacancies. Both elected and nominated Rajya Sabha members are eligible to vote. With the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) abstaining, the effective strength falls to 770, fixing the majority mark at 386.
On paper, the NDA commands 425 MPs. Support from the YSR Congress Party’s 11 MPs lifts its tally to 436, while AAP’s Swati Maliwal is also expected to vote for Radhakrishnan.
The INDIA bloc enters the contest with 324 MPs. Three of the seven independents in the Lok Sabha have yet to declare their stance, while one MP each from the Zoram People’s Movement and VOTTP remain non-committal. The Shiromani Akali Dal, citing the flood situation in Punjab, has announced it will stay away.
The arithmetic points to an NDA victory. But unlike 2022 – when Jagdeep Dhankhar defeated Margaret Alva by 346 votes – today’s margin will be narrower. Analysts estimate a gap of 100–125 votes, reflecting the opposition’s stronger position after last year’s Lok Sabha election. Both sides are on alert for cross-voting, a possibility given the secret ballot and absence of a party whip.
THE PROCESS AND THE STAKES
Vice presidential elections are conducted through proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. MPs mark their order of preference – ‘1’ for their first choice, ‘2’ for the second, and so on – on white ballot papers carrying candidates’ names in Hindi and English. Ambiguous marks, words instead of numerals, or any indication of the voter’s identity render the ballot invalid.
Special provisions apply for MPs in preventive detention. In this election, jailed MPs Sheikh Abdul Rashid from Baramulla and Amritpal Singh from Khadoor Sahib will vote through postal ballots. To minimise errors, both alliances have run mock polls and training sessions for their MPs.
The outcome matters beyond the arithmetic. The Vice President also presides over the Rajya Sabha, where the NDA does not enjoy an overwhelming edge. The margin of victory will be read as a measure of each alliance’s clout heading into the next parliamentary session.
CANDIDATES IN FOCUS
For the NDA, CP Radhakrishnan, 68, brings a mix of political loyalty and symbolic weight. A two-time Lok Sabha MP from Coimbatore in 1998 and 1999, he remains the only BJP leader from Tamil Nadu to achieve that feat. He belongs to the Gounder-Kongu Vellalar OBC community and took charge as Governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024.
Facing him is Justice B Sudershan Reddy, 79, the INDIA bloc’s nominee and a retired Supreme Court judge from Telangana. Known for his uncompromising rulings, he declared the Salwa Judum militia unconstitutional, pressed for tougher black-money investigations, and carved out a reputation for judicial independence. The opposition has projected him as a voice for social, economic and political justice.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
Though the NDA’s numbers secure its candidate, the INDIA bloc has ensured the contest cannot be dismissed as a formality. A slimmer margin, coupled with even minor cross-voting, could lend its nominee moral weight. For the ruling alliance, meanwhile, every ballot matters – a resounding win strengthens its hand in the Rajya Sabha, but a reduced tally will be parsed as a signal of shifting undercurrents.
As the ballot boxes open tonight, the contest will not just decide who occupies the Vice President’s chair, but also set the tone for battles that lie ahead in Parliament. By the time Tuesday gives way to Wednesday, the numbers – and the loyalties behind them – will have spoken.
– Ends
Published By:
Nakul Ahuja
Published On:
Sep 9, 2025
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