New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS) Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday extended special thanks to some members of Parliament (MPs) of the INDIA bloc who voted with ‘conscience’, apparently hinting at cross-voting in the Vice-Presidential election, held a day earlier.

Soon after the results for the VP elections were declared, electing C.P. Radhakrishnan as the country’s next Vice President, the BJP and Congress sparred over ‘conscience vote’ as an adequate response to the ‘vote chori’ campaign.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress communications in charge, claimed that the Opposition stood united behind Justice Sudershan Reddy and all of its 315 MPs voted for him, in an unprecedented 100 per cent turnout.

However, this was contested by senior BJP leader B.L. Santhosh, who took to X to claim, “Voting happened through ballot papers & INDI Alliance got 15 votes less than their number. The INDI alliance leaders had campaigned for conscience vote. They got it in return.”

The Vice-Presidential election, despite the results being evident from the beginning in terms of arithmetic, largely turned into an ideological battle and also a one for show of strength by the NDA and the UPA.

Kiren Rijiju’s congratulatory message to some Parliamentarians for voting with ‘conscience’ further emboldens the claims of cross-voting.

“NDA and all our friendly MPs remain united. Congratulations to everyone on electing a humble & efficient man and a true patriot as India’s new Vice President,” he said in a post on X.

The keenly contested VP polls have resulted in NDA nominee and Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan becoming the country’s next Vice President, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The 68-year-old Radhakrishnan won the elections by over 150 votes. He got 452 first preference votes, while the retired Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy got 300 first preference votes.

The voting figures as they emerged showed that there was considerable cross-voting — presumably from the Opposition MPs. At least 15 MPs have cross-voted for the NDA candidate. The NDA faction was jubilant as expected, claiming fissures within the Opposition’s ranks despite the latter’s claims of unwavering unity within the bloc.

–IANS

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