New Delhi, Sept 9: Voting began on Tuesday to elect India’s next Vice President, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi casting the first ballot in the contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy.
Modi, accompanied by Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Jitendra Singh and L Murugan, voted at Parliament House before leaving for flood-hit Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
Among early voters were Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, and Sonia Gandhi. The 92-year-old Gowda arrived in a wheelchair, while Kharge and Union minister Nitin Gadkari were seen walking hand in hand to the booth.
The election was necessitated by the sudden resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. With 781 MPs eligible to vote, the majority mark stands at 391. The NDA, commanding 425 MPs, is seen to hold a clear edge over the opposition, which has 324.
Members of both Houses of Parliament can vote between 10 am and 5 pm, with counting to begin at 6 pm. Results are expected later in the evening.
Union Ministers Rijiju and Ram Mohan Naidu, along with Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, are serving as NDA’s election agents. While Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat expressed confidence of victory, opposition candidate Reddy said his fight was to “awaken the conscience of the people” and defend the Constitution.
