New Delhi: Leaders of several opposition parties on Monday held a meeting in Parliament complex in a show of unity on the eve of the vice presidential election.
Top leaders of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, TMC, RJD, JMM, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), CPI and CPI-M met in the central hall of Samvidhan Sadan (Old Parliament Building) and were briefed about the election process on Tuesday in which members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are eligible to vote.
While SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav welcomed all those present, Congress leader and chief whip of the Congress in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh informed the MPs about the procedure for voting.
The vice-presidential poll has been described by the opposition as an ideological battle, even as the numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Sources said the Opposition MPs were told to ensure their vote is not wasted, as some votes were declared invalid last time. The MPs also participated in a mock poll for Tuesday’s election to enable MPs to experience the voting process.
Members of Parliament are not bound by party whips to vote in the vice presidential election, which takes place under a secret ballot system.
The MPs will be handed out ballot papers containing the names of the two contesting candidates and will have to mark their preference by writing the figure ‘1’ opposite the name of the candidate of their choice.
Among the leaders who attended the meeting in Samvidhan Sadan were Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi, NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar and DMK leader T R Baalu.
Meanwhile, the NDA also held a meeting of their MPs to brief them on the election process. The members also participated in a mock poll.
Odisha’s principal opposition party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), announced that its MPs will abstain from voting in the vice presidential elections.
The party, headed by former chief minister Naveen Patnaik, said it took the decision as part of its policy of “maintaining an equal distance” from both the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led INDIA bloc at the national level.
On Sunday, AIMIM decided to support the opposition candidate in the election.
Ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy are pitted against each other in a direct contest for the vice-presidential election.
The BJP-led alliance has a clear edge in the poll necessitated by the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21.
Members of both Houses of Parliament will cast their votes in the Parliament House between 10 AM and 5 PM on Tuesday. Counting of votes will begin at 6 PM, and the results will be announced late in the evening.
The electoral college for the vice presidential election comprises a total of 788 members – 245 from the Rajya Sabha and 543 from the Lok Sabha. The 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha are also eligible to vote in the election.
The present strength of the electoral college is 781 as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha. This puts the majority mark at 391. The NDA has 425 MPs, while the opposition camp has the backing of 324.
Among the political parties that are not part of the ruling or the opposition camps, the YSRCP, with 11 members in Parliament, has decided to support the NDA nominee, while the BRS and the BJD have decided to abstain from voting in the election.
While the NDA candidate and veteran BJP leader is from Tamil Nadu and is the Governor of Maharashtra, Reddy is a former Supreme Court judge who hails from Telangana.
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