Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi
In what promises to be a no-holds barred ideological battle as the opposition is spinning the contest for the vice-president’s post, the odds favour the NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan given the numbers stacked up behind him.
While the parties belonging to the ruling alliance at the centre are super confident of the result – a facile victory for Radhakrishnan, as TDP Spokesperson Pattabhi Ram declared on television amid speculations that the opposition bloc INDIA by naming a Telugu Bidda (a Telugu son) could disturb his party’s voting choice in the elections for the post of Vice President.
Just like speculations were rife in Tamil Nadu soon after the NDA picked Radhakrishnan as its VP candidate that the DMK could be facing an issue in opposing a Tamilian, the regional formations in the two-Telugu speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana may well find opposing a person who belonged to the combined Andhra Pradesh.
But dismissing any such suggestions, TDP spokesperson said that his party chief and AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has declared the party’s wholehearted support to Radhakrishnan ji and he will be the new vice president.
The other political party from truncated Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP too had indicated its support to the ruling alliance’s candidate. But the party, led by former Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy, is slated to hold a formal meeting in Parliament tomorrow and take a final call, which in all probability would be in support of the NDA candidate.
In Telangana, BRS, led by former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, too is firmly on the government’s side, even though the opposition candidate is a Telugu Bidda. The former CM, who at one time was supportive of PM Narendra Modi, later poked fun at him and launched a bitter and vitriolic campaign during the run up to the Telangana assembly elections held in 2023.
He has since mellowed down and is facing political heat from Congress leader and CM Revanth Reddy, and for this reason as well, political analysts from the state do not expect him and his party to support the INDIA candidate.
Only in neighbouring Tamil Nadu is the INDIA candidate, Mr Justice (Retd) Sudershan Reddy has firm support from DMK, which dismissed any suggestions that it may find opposing the candidate belonging to the BJP, though he hails from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. A Sarvanan, DMK spokesperson firmly opposed “an RSS pracharak as a person to hold the constitutional post.” His party colleague and leader in parliament, Kanomozi declared that it was an “ideological battle” that the opposition was waging, and its fight was to protect the Constitution and democracy.
Justice Sudershan Reddy, himself sounded confident about his chances when he said “I am representing 60 percent of India and all non-BJP parties in the NDA should also support me.” In fact, he even went on to appeal to even the BJP MPs and MLAs who upheld values of true democracy and the Constitution must support him.
But the numbers clearly are in favour of the ruling combine at the centre, and the opposition nominee Reddy has little or no realistic chances of putting it past the NDA candidate Radhakrishnan.
For the record, the NDA has a clear majority in the numbers in the electoral college that will elect the vice president. It includes MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, who total 782 at the moment. To win, the candidate has to win more than half of this number, 392, which the NDA has and more members in surplus.
The BJP led NDA has 423 MPs – 293 in Lok Sabha and 130 in the Rajya Sabha, which gives Radhakrishnan a clear and decisive edge to its candidate, making the election of Radhakrishnan as the next Vice President president a mere formality.
Political experts do not anticipate any earth-shaking developments that can alter the equations and the possible result of the Vice Presidential elections.
