11 September, Thursday: Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday hinted that some of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs may have casted their votes for the BJP candidate instead of retired Supreme Court judge Justice B Sudershan Reddy, the nominee from the INDIA bloc nominee He didn’t reveal any names but alleged that a “woman MP from AAP” had long supported the BJP and spoke against her own party chief Arvind Kejriwal. He further continued his claim that their counterparts had offered opposition lawmakers ₹15–20 crore each to cast their votes on their end. “Representatives can be bought, but not the people,” he said.
Radhakrishnan secured 452 of 752 valid votes. This was 14 more than the NDA tally of 438 and this is where the INDIA bloc picked up their allegations. Justice Reddy ended up with 15 votes cut from his tally as confusingly enough, that many votes were declared invalid were counting. Taken aback with such a claim, Aam Aadmi Party denied Banerjee’s charge. Leader Saurabh Bhardwaj retorted that the Election Commission knows who voted for whom and if they shared it with the BJP, they should also let the public know the same. The NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), the RJD, and the DMK insisted that their MPs did vote for Justice Reddy. The Congress also emphasized that all of their 315 MPs backed their candidate, but the final result shockingly suggests that at least some crossvoting took place.
The BJP however mocked the opposition as their senior leaders Nishikant Dubey, Amit Malviya, and Kiren Rijiju thanked the MPs who allegedly crossed over and voted in favor of their candidate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Radhakrishnan, saying his “life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalized.” If we speak of regulations and long-standing values, crossvoting is considered legal in vice-presidential polls since party factions do not come into the scene, but it raises serious questions about INDIA bloc’s unity. Though this is not the first time such speculations are coming out of them, the current position, particularly ahead of assembly elections in Bihar later this year and Bengal and Tamil Nadu in 2026, might hurt their chances if the public wishes to take command against them.
In his concession Justice Reddy accepted the result “with an abiding faith in the democratic process of our great republic.” As the INDIA bloc again embarrass themselves, this recent episode underscores widening rifts among opposition partners and renewed doubts about their ability to stay united against the BJP.
