CP Radhakrishnan Elected as VP, Congress to Probe Cross-Election

Congress Leader Seeks Investigation into Cross-Voting as CP Radhakrishnan Becomes the Vice President of India

Congress MP Manish Tewari has recently demanded deep investigations into cross-voting allegations during the VP elections. The accusations from Congress came out as soon as the nominee from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), CP Radhakrishnan, was elected the Vice President of India. The claims for cross-voting came as seven voters fell short of the voter tally of the INDIA bloc.

NDA Nominee Becomes the 15th Vice President of India

The former governor of Maharashtra, CP Radhakrishnan, became the 15th Vice President of India. He received 451 first-preference votes during the election, while his opposition candidate got 300 first-preference votes. However, given the count of NDA voters in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Radhakrishnan was assumed to get 427 votes.

Even if 11 votes from the ex-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Reddy’s party were added, Radhakrishnan was expected to receive 438 votes. This caused confusion among the Congress leaders as all of their 315 MPs showed up on the day of the election and voted for B. Sudershan Reddy.

Did Seven Cross-Votes Come from Maharashtra?

Amidst the controversies, CNN-News18 reports suggested that around seven cross-votes might have been from Maharashtra. After getting into the details of where these cross-votes came from, speculations about three of them coming from Shiv Sena, and the remaining four from Congress, were made. 

CNN-News18 further hinted that there might have also been cross-voting from DMK, providing Radhakrishnan’s Tamil background as the deciding factor. This cross-voting took place despite a mock poll being held in the past to help politicians get acquainted with the overall voting process. The move was also intended to minimize the risk of ballots.

The investigations are still ongoing, and the truth will soon be revealed. However, one thing is clear: the INDIA bloc is not as united as the NDA. The NDA secured votes from all its members and managed to gain support from YSRCP despite having several issues.

CP Radhakrishnan defeated B Sudershan Reddy in the vice presidential election by 152 votes, becoming the 15th vice president of India. The post was vacant for many days, as the former VP, Jagdeep Dhankhar, resigned due to health concerns. After the election results, Congress leader Manish Tewari alleged that the VP election result had cross-voters and asked for a thorough investigation.