The voting began at 10 am and will continue till 5 pm. By late evening, the results will be official.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor casts vote (Photo Credits: ANI)
The vice-presidential election, which began on Tuesday at 10 AM, has concluded, and the counting of votes is scheduled to start shortly.
Framed as an ideological contest between BJP-NDA’s CP Radhakrishnan and Congress-led INDIA bloc’s B Sudershan Reddy, the polling witnessed a 96% turnout of MPs, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi casting the first vote.
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PM Modi, along with Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Jitendra Singh and L Murugan, cast their vote.
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The voting began at 10 am and will continue till 5 pm. By late evening, the results will be official.
After PM Modi, several other MPs, including Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, her daughter and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, BJP Chief JP Nadda and several other MPs also cast their votes.
#WATCH | Delhi | Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi arrives at the Parliament House to cast his vote for the Vice Presidential election.
(Source: Sansad TV) pic.x.com/3SitqvaDgS
— ANI (@ANI) September 9, 2025
Former Prime Minister and JD(S) MP in Rajya Sabha, HD Deve Gowda, arrived at the Parliament in a wheelchair to cast his vote for the Vice Presidential election.
NDA’s nominee Radhakrishnan is poised to become the new Vice President of India given the numbers are in his favour.
INDIA bloc’s B Sudershan Reddy is also hopeful of his victory. He is optimistic about the “conscience-based votes”, a fairy-tale situation given the current political climate.
What do the numbers say?
The numbers overwhelmingly favour NDA. The electoral college for the Vice President’s election has a total of 781, including 239 Rajya Sabha MPs and 542 Lok Sabha MPs, who are eligible to vote.
Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and K Chandrasekhar Rao’s BRS have decided to abstain from the voting, a move seen by the Opposition as an indirect support to the NDA.
This brings the total votes down to 770, making 386 the majority mark. The BJP-led NDA has 435 MPs and the alliance is also likely to get the support of 11 YSR Congress MPs and AAP’s rebel Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal.
In contrast, the Opposition INDIA bloc has a combined strength of 324 MPs.
Can there still be a twist in the tale?
A twsit can not be ruled out completely as the voting is conducted through a secret ballot and all votes carry equal value.
Both CP Radhakrishnan and B Sudershan Reddy hail from South India and there is an outside chance some of the South Indian MPs could have a change of heart at the last moment.
But Reddy will need more than just some of the South Indian MPs. He will need at least 50 votes from the NDA to cause an upset that means almost all NDA allies cross-voting.
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