Vice-President election 2025 updates: NDA’s Radhakrishnan vs INDIA bloc’s Reddy, voting begins at 10 am
All eyes are on the vice-presidential election scheduled to take place on Tuesday, with ruling NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan and opposition INDIA bloc candidate B Sudarshan Reddy — both from southern India — set to battle it out in a direct contest for the second highest constitutional office of the country.
The election was necessitated after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from the post of Vice-President on July 21, citing health reasons. Dhankhar had two years of his five-year tenure left when he, in a sudden turn of events, put in his papers. The elected Vice-President will get a full five-year term.
This made it only the third such instance in independent India, when a Vice-President resigned mid-term. Earlier, VV Giri and R Venkataraman had stepped down as vice-presidents to contest the presidential elections.
As per Article 66 of the Constitution, the Vice-President is elected by the members of the electoral college, comprising the members of both Houses of Parliament, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
For the 17th vice-presidential election on Tuesday, the electoral college comprises 233 elected members of the Rajya Sabha (at present, five seats are vacant), and 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, taking the current strength of the Upper House to 240. Also, of the 543 members of the Lok Sabha, one seat is vacant, which takes the Lower House number to 542. Therefore, the electoral college, on the basis of its current numbers, comprises a total of 782 members. Since, all electors are members of both Houses of Parliament, the value of the vote of each MP will be the same i.e. one.
Interestingly, the BRS and the BJD have decided to stay away from the vice-presidential election.
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Polling booth all set for Vice-President election at Parliament House in New Delhi on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan
September 9, 2025 9:54 am
Congress hits out at YSRCP for supporting NDA nominee in VP polls
September 9, 2025 9:48 am
The Congress on Tuesday attacked YSRCP president Jagan Mohan Reddy for supporting NDA nominee Radhakrishnan and accused him of betrayal for not standing with democratic forces.
In a post on X, Congress leader Manickam Tagore said the people of Andhra Pradesh will not forget his "betrayal" by choosing to support an RSS candidate out of "fear" of CBI cases over the interests of Andhra Pradesh. PTI
Numbers favour NDA candidate Radhakrishnan, 427 likely to vote in favour
September 9, 2025 9:38 am
As the stage is set for the vice-presidential election, NDA's candidate CP Radhakrishnan has an edge with 427 MPs, well above the majority mark of 391, supporting him for the post.
A BJP leader had said that the NDA candidate is expected to garner at least 427 votes.
In the Lok Sabha, Radhakrishnan is expected to receive 293 votes and 134 votes are likely to be cast in his favour in the Rajya Sabha.
The Opposition's candidate, Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, is backed by 354 MPs, with 249 in the Lower House and 105 in the Upper House of the Parliament.
Currently, the Parliament comprises 781 members, including 542 in the Lok Sabha with one seat vacant and 239 in the Rajya Sabha with five seats vacant. ANI
Sudershan Reddy meets RLP MP Beniwal, Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrasekhar in Delhi
September 9, 2025 9:34 am
Ahead of the Vice-President elections, B Sudershan Reddy, on Monday evening met RLP MP Hanuman Beniwal and Azad Samaj Party President and MP Chandrasekhar Azad in Delhi to seek support.
Thanking Beniwal, Reddy called it a "memorable moment" in his campaign. "I express gratitude to Hanuman Beniwal for supporting me... This is a memorable moment in my life, when one of the tall leaders of our country came to extend his support..." Reddy said. ANI
Radhakrishnan offers prayers at Ram temple in Lodhi Road
September 9, 2025 9:14 am
Hours before the voting begins for the Vice-President election, NDA's candidate and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan arrived at Shree Ram Mandir in Delhi's Lodhi Road area to offer prayers this morning. ANI
Voting begins at 10 am
September 9, 2025 8:50 am
The voting for the election will begin at 10 am on Tuesday and conclude at 5 pm. The counting of votes will begin at 6 pm the same day.
INDIA bloc candidate: B Sudarshan Reddy
September 9, 2025 8:50 am
Former Supreme Court judge B Sudarshan Reddy is the INDIA bloc candidate for the election. Reddy (79) retired from the Supreme Court in July 2011, and is a jurist known for several landmark judgments criticising the then Union Government for showing slackness in probing black money cases. He had also declared Salwa Judum, formed by the Chhattisgarh Government to fight Naxals, as unconstitutional.
NDA candidate: CP Radhakrishnan
September 9, 2025 8:46 am
The NDA candidate for the vice-presidential poll is Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, an OBC from the Goundar-Kongu Vellalar community. The 68-year-old BJP leader, an RSS ideologue, is known in the party as a soft-spoken, non-controversial figure, who is also the only BJP leader from Tamil Nadu to have been elected to the Lok Sabha twice in 1998 and 1999.
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