Odisha’s principal opposition party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharat Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) of Telangana have decided to boycott the high-octane vice president elections in the country, scheduled to be held on September 9. Both parties have said their MPs would abstain from voting. This means, the MPs of these two parties will not be supporting any of the two candidates in fray for the polls.
BJP-led NDA has fielded RSS strongman and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, while the opposition’s INDIA bloc has nominated retired Supreme Court judge, justice B Sudershan Reddy for the elections.
Why is BJD boycotting the polls?
BJD chief and former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said that MPs of his party will not vote for anyone in the vice-president elections as the party wants to maintain its policy of “equal distance” from both the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led INDIA bloc at the national level.
“BJD president Naveen Patnaik has decided that the party’s MPs will abstain from voting in the vice presidential elections. He took the decision after consulting senior party leaders, members of the political affairs committee (PAC) and lawmakers,” BJD MP Sasmit Patra told PTI over the phone.
“Our entire focus is on the development of the state and its 4.5 crore people,” Patra said.
While BJP said the decision will benefit NDA candidates, Congress urged Patnaik to reconsider his decision. Welcoming BJD’s decision, senior BJP leader and Union minister Jual Oram said, “By deciding that BJD MPs will abstain from voting, Naveen Babu has indirectly supported the NDA candidate.”
Meanwhile, the lone Congress MP from Odisha, Saptagiri Ulaka, said, “We hope Naveen Babu will reconsider his party’s decision. The INDIA bloc candidate, B Sudershan Reddy, is not a Congress leader. He is an eminent jurist who is being supported by the grand old party and others. If BJD MPs vote for him, that will not impact the regional party’s policy of maintaining equidistance. There is still time to reconsider.”
BRS says priority is 70 lakh Telangana farmers
Communicating its decision of not participating in the elections, BRS Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) said that the party’s support in the upcoming Vice-Presidential elections would be conditional on addressing the plight of Telangana’s farmers.
He said the party would back the candidate of the party that ensures the immediate supply of two lakh metric tonnes of urea before September 9. He also warned that farmers in Telangana are facing an unprecedented crisis and cannot be left to suffer due to political indifference.
“We are not in NDA, we are not in INDIA bloc. BRS is a completely independent party. We have no bosses in Delhi. Telangana people are our only bosses,” KTR added. The BRS could have exercised the option of NOTA had it been available in the Vice Presidential election, he said
The BRS said it reiterates its unwavering commitment to the 70 lakh farmers of Telangana. The BRS will not take decisions for the pleasure of Delhi bosses, the party said.
How do numbers change?
BJD and BRS not voting for any of the vice president candidates will not have much of an impact on the overall picture. The parties together have a total of 11 MPs in Rajya Sabha (BJD-11 and BRS-4). The electoral collage to elect the vice-president consists of 787 members.
Only members of parliament vote for the VP elections, unlike the presidential polls where MLAs of state legislatures also cast votes.
A candidate needs at least 394 votes to win. With 422 MPs backing Radhakrishnan, including 293 from the Lok Sabha and 129 from the Rajya Sabha, the NDA’s path to victory appears almost certain. Since each MPs vote is counted as ‘one’, the abstaining of voting by 11 MPs will not impact the chances of any of the two sides, until the margin is quite thin.