As the Vice-Presidential election approaches on Tuesday, the numerical advantage appears to lie with the BJP-led NDA, which has fielded C P Radhakrishnan against the Opposition INDIA bloc’s nominee, retired Supreme Court judge Justice B Sudershan Reddy. The chances of Radhakrishnan receiving additional support have grown after the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) announced that they would not be participating in the voting process.
The BJD, led by Naveen Patnaik, and the BRS, headed by K Chandrashekar Rao, clarified on Monday that their Members of Parliament would stay away from the poll. Both parties are neither aligned with the NDA nor part of the INDIA coalition.
Radhakrishnan is currently serving as the Governor of Maharashtra, while Justice Sudershan Reddy previously served as a judge of the Supreme Court. The election was called after the sudden resignation of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21, the very first day of Parliament’s monsoon session. Dhankhar stepped down citing health-related reasons.
Explaining the BJD’s position, party MP Sasmit Patra told The Indian Express that the decision to abstain was finalized by the Political Affairs Committee in the presence of party chief Naveen Patnaik. He stated that the party continues to maintain equal distance from both national alliances and remains committed to the development and welfare of Odisha and its 4.5 crore people.
At present, the BJD holds seven seats in the Rajya Sabha but none in the Lok Sabha. In the 2022 Vice-Presidential election, the BJD had backed NDA’s candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar, who defeated Opposition pick Margaret Alva by a comfortable margin. However, in the 2024 state elections, the party lost power in Odisha to the BJP.