A day before the vice-presidential election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a dinner for NDA parliamentarians at his residence on September 8. The NDA has devised a strategy to ensure 100 per cent voting from its 425 MPs, aiming to avoid cross-voting and secure a decisive victory for its candidate.
The BJP is hopeful of receiving support from the YSRCP, BJD, and BRS in the vice-presidential election on September 9.
The NDA aims to secure 100 per cent voting in the vice-presidential election by ensuring the presence of all its 425 MPs. According to sources, specific responsibilities have been assigned to Union ministers and MPs in this regard. In each state, one minister and one MP have been tasked with ensuring that all NDA members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha cast their votes in Delhi on September 9. In Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Rajya Sabha MP Lakshmikant Bajpai have been entrusted with these responsibilities.
In Bihar, Union Minister Nityanand Rai and BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal have been tasked with ensuring the presence of BJP parliamentarians, while Chirag Paswan and Sanjay Jha will coordinate to secure 100 per cent voting from LJP and JD(U) MPs. “A workshop is being organised for all NDA MPs from September 6 to 8 to prevent any errors during the voting process,” BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal said.
Additionally, the support of BJD and BRS is crucial. The BJD, which has 7 members in the Rajya Sabha, has said it will take a decision at the last moment, although Prime Minister Modi has contacted Naveen Patnaik to request votes in favour of the NDA candidate. The BRS, with four members in the Rajya Sabha, has been approached by the INDIA bloc to support its Telugu candidate. The YSRCP, which has four members in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha, has already announced its support for the NDA candidate.
On September 8, Prime Minister Modi will host a dinner for all NDA MPs. Around the same time, meetings of 18 parliamentary committees have been scheduled in Delhi to ensure the presence of concerned MPs in the city at government expense. MPs receive travel and daily allowances for attending parliamentary committee meetings. The airfare for their travel is also covered. Concurrently, a workshop will be held to train MPs on the voting process.
The election for the vice president is conducted through a secret ballot, and no whip is applicable in this regard. Consequently, there is a possibility of cross-voting. The NDA aims to ensure that all its MPs cast their votes correctly, with no votes being invalidated. For this purpose, members will be trained on how to avoid bringing their own pens and use those provided by election officials to mark their preferences on the ballot paper. Additionally, MPs will be taught the proper way to fold the ballot paper to prevent ink from smudging to ensure their votes are not invalidated. The NDA’s objective is to secure a significant victory for its candidate, C.P. Radhakrishnan. Currently, the NDA has 425 votes in its bloc, which is 34 more than the 391 required for victory.
The NDA currently holds approximately 55% of the votes and is aiming to increase this figure to over 60%. In the last Rajya Sabha election, NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar received 528 votes, defeating opposition candidate Margaret Alva by a margin of 346 votes. Dhankhar secured around 74.4% of the votes, marking the largest victory in the history of vice-presidential elections to date. However, it will be challenging for the NDA to replicate this situation now, as the opposition is in a much stronger position than before.