RS, LS MPs vote to elect New Vice President of India
The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs Tuesday September 09, 2025 have lined up to elect new Vice President of India
[Congress President Malikarjun Khadge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi casting their votes for the Vice President polls Tuesday]
New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs Tuesday September 09, 2025 have lined up to elect new Vice President of India.
The NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan and INDIA block pick Sudershan Reddy are in direct contest in the election necessitated following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankar.
The Members of Parliament from both the houses are eligible to cast their votes in the poll held to elect the candidate posted on the second highest constitutional post in India.
Among the first who voted to elect the new Vice President are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Malikarjun Khadge, senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi.
Also seen casting their votes in the 2025 Vice President Election Tuesday were Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and other BJP MPs.
The MPs who have announced to abstain from the voting are those belonging to Biju Janata Dal of Odisha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) of Telangana and Shiromani Akali Dal of Punjab.
NDA Candidate: CP Radhakrishnan
CP Radhakrishnan is a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - a right wing Hindu organisation. He is currently serving as Governor of Maharashtra. He is on the post from July 31, 2024.
CP Radhakrishnan has also served as Governor Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024. His tenure as Jharkhand Govervor was marred by controversies.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was sent to jail while on the post, has accused in the state assembly that the controversy to prison him was planned in the Raj Bhavan. Raj Bhavan is the official residence of Governor.
He began his political career by joining Jan Sangh in 1974. He joined the BJP after it was founded in 1980 and become an aide to Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Radhakrishnan was elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore in the 1998 and re-elected in the 1999 general elections. He was, however, defeated in 2004 and 2019 Parliament Elections.
INDIA Candidate: Sudershan Reddy
INDIA bloc candidate Balkrishna Sudershan Reddy is former SC Judge and considered Constitutional Expert. Reddy was the head of the Independent Expert Working Group (IEWG), appointed by the Telangana government to analyse the data of the caste survey.
Sudershan Reddy, a Graduate from Osmania University, was Chief Justice of Guahati High Court from December 2005 to January 2007. From January 2007 to July 2011, he served as a Judge at the Supreme Court of India.
He was the first Lokayukta of Goa. He was appointed on the post in March 2013 following the passage of the The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.
His tenure as judge and as Lokayukta Goa has been non-controversial.
Vice President Electoral College
As per Article 66 of the Constitution of India, the Vice-President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of the members of both Houses of the Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
Electoral College comprises of a total of 788 members (Presently, 782 members) of both Houses of the Parliament. Since, all the electors are members of both Houses of the Parliament, the value of vote of each Member of Parliament would be same i.e. 1 (one).
For 2025, the 17th Vice-Presidential Election, the Electoral College consists of:
- 233 elected members of Rajya Sabha (Presently 05 seats are vacant)
- 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha
- 543 elected members of Lok Sabha (Presently 02 seats are vacant).
VP Election Number Game
Out of the total 542 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the NDA has 293 MPs, whereas 249 are with the Opposition. In the Rajya Sabha, ruling alliance has the support of nearly 133 members.
In total, the NDA has 422 members whereas the INDIA bloc has 313 members. The YSRCP and AAP have 11 members each.
Among the NDA allies, Chandrababu Naido's role in the Vice President election has become crucial. Naido's TDP has a total of 18 MPs (16 LS and 02 RS) and the Modi government is banking on its support to survive. If Naido decides to support Sudershan citing the notion that "he is son of the soil" as per the precedent in earlier President and Vice President elections, the NDA pick for Vice President Radhakrishnan can be in trouble.
Naido's rival Jaganmohan Reddy (YSRCP) with 11 MPs (04 in LS and 07 in RS) had earlier announced support for Reddy citing 'Telugu Pride'. He however changed his stance and is now voting for the NDA candidate.
Parties cannot issue whip for the Vice President elections, and the MPs can vote on their own wish. This is because there are speculations of cross voting from both the sides.
The result of the Vice President election 2025 will be announced after counting of votes scheduled after 05:00 PM today.
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