IT’S VENKAIAH VS GOPAL GANDHI TODAY
NDA, OPPN NOMINEES FACE OFF IN VICEPRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
NEWDELHI: With numbers heavily tilted in favour of NDA candidate M Venkaiah Naidu, he is set to be elected as India’s 15th vice-president on Saturday in the electoral battle against Opposition’s Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
If he wins, Naidu will be the second leader from the BJP background, after Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, to assume the country’s second-highest office, days after Ram Nath Kovind, the first President with BJP legacy, entered Rashtrapati Bhavan.
According to the calculations by both sides, Venkaiah Naidu is likely to get 514 votes, while Gopal Krishna Gandhi (Opposition) may get around 271 votes.
The V-P election assumes significance as the NDA nominee is set to win and assume the role of the chairman of the Rajya Sabha — the House where the Opposition has outnumbered the ruling dispensation in the past three years. The BJP hopes that Naidu, with his vast legislative experience, may bring back peace in the House.
While the numbers are heavily tilted in favour of Naidu in the poll, some drama are expected during the polling as many MPs may be in a hurry to finish voting before catching the return flight to their constituencies.
TMC has decided that all 44 MPs will vote together in the first hour after the voting starts. “All 44 Trinamool MPs will come together to vote. You can imagine what will happen,” said Derek O’Brien, the party’s Rajya Sabha floor leader.
The Prime Minister is set to vote during the first half. Unlike the Presidential election, the electoral college of the vice-presidential election comprises only MPs.
The results will be out Saturday afternoon after counting of the ballot papers in the Parliament building.
Both factions of the AIADMK, BJP’s new ally JDU, YSR Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and some other parties are expected to vote for Naidu. The Opposition has managed to rope in BJD in its side.
THE BJP HOPES THAT NAIDU, WITH HIS VAST LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE, MAY BRING BACK PEACE IN THE HOUSE