As voting for the vice-presidential polls gets underway, several MPs have abstained after their parties announced a boycott. While lawmakers cast their ballots between RSS-BJP veteran C P Radhakrishnan and jurist Sudershan Reddy, these parties have chosen to stay away, refusing to pick a side. So far, three parties have announced a boycott of the vice-presidential polls.
Biju Janata Dal
Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and declared that its MPs will not vote in the vice presidential polls, stating the party’s policy of “maintaining equal distance” from NDA and India bloc at the national level.
The BJD has seven MPs in the Rajya Sabha — Niranjan Bishi, Sulata Deo, Muzibulla Khan, Subhasish Khuntia, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj, Sasmit Patra, and Debashish Samantaray. They don’t have an MP in the Lok Sabha.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), led by former Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, has announced it will boycott the vice-presidential election, citing the distress of farmers facing a urea shortage.
“For the last 20 days, BRS has been alerting both the state and central governments about the crisis. Yet, no action has been taken. As a mark of protest and in solidarity with 71 lakh Telangana farmers, BRS has decided not to participate in the election. If NOTA had been an option, we would have chosen it,” party working president K T Rama Rao said.
The BRS has four MPs in the Rajya Sabha — Damodar Rao Divakonda Reddy, B Parthasaradhi Reddy, K R Suresh Reddy, and Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju — but none in the Lok Sabha.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has abstained from the vice-presidential election, accusing both the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab of failing to assist the state during the “unprecedented” floods.
“Punjab and Punjabis have always stood by the nation in times of crisis. But today, when nearly one-third of Punjab is submerged and houses and crops lie destroyed, neither the state government nor the Centre has come forward to help. The crisis is being fought by Punjabis in general, and Sikhs in particular, without any support,” the party wrote on X.
Former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the lone SAD MP.