A day after NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan was elected as India’s 15th Vice-President, political tempers flared over allegations of cross-voting from the opposition bloc. The development has triggered a fresh round of accusations between the BJP and the Congress, with ministers openly thanking opposition MPs while the Congress has suggested coercion by central agencies.
Radhakrishnan, the former BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, secured victory on Tuesday against joint opposition candidate and retired Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy. His win was followed by remarks from senior BJP figures indicating that a section of opposition lawmakers had broken ranks during the secret ballot.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju publicly expressed gratitude to certain INDIA bloc MPs for what he termed “conscience votes” in favour of the government’s nominee. Echoing him, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) MP Shrikant Shinde also lauded members of both the INDIA alliance and Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for supporting Radhakrishnan. The MVA includes the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).
The comments provoked a sharp response from the Congress. Party whip in Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, accused the BJP of celebrating “vote theft” and questioned whether the cross-voting was truly a matter of conscience. “Why is a Union minister boasting about opposition MPs siding with NDA? Is this really conscience, or the result of pressure from CBI and ED?” Tagore asked.
He further alleged that the ruling party’s strategy across elections — from local contests in Karnataka to the recently held vice-presidential polls — reflected a “pattern of vote manipulation,” warning that democracy was at risk if such practices continued unchecked.
Congress insiders admitted that the secret ballot system makes it nearly impossible to conclusively identify those who defied party lines, though suspicions are being directed at some regional partners. Nonetheless, Tagore’s fiery remarks, while aimed at the BJP, also implicitly acknowledged that cross-voting within opposition ranks had indeed taken place.
The episode has added to friction within the INDIA bloc, exposing cracks that the NDA appears eager to exploit following Radhakrishnan’s emphatic win.