New Delhi: India is set to elect its 15th Vice President today, September 9, as members of both Houses of Parliament cast their votes in a crucial contest. The ruling NDA, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has fielded CP Radhakrishnan, while the Opposition’s INDIA Bloc has nominated retired Supreme Court Justice B Sudershan Reddy.

Voting begins at 10 AM and will continue till 5 PM, with all 781 MPs eligible to cast their votes through secret ballot. Of these, 542 MPs belong to the Lok Sabha and 239 to the Rajya Sabha. The NDA holds a comfortable majority with 422 MPs and further consolidated its numbers with the support of Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party’s 11 MPs, taking the alliance’s tally above 430.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence in the NDA’s candidate, stating that CP Radhakrishnan’s candidature has generated “immense enthusiasm” and that he will enrich the Vice President’s office with wisdom and insights.

Meanwhile, the Opposition bloc is expected to secure around 320 votes. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), despite being part of the NDA, have announced they will abstain from voting. Smaller parties and independents are expected to account for around 10 votes.

This election comes just two months after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from the Vice President’s post citing health reasons. In the previous 2022 election, NDA’s candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar had secured 528 votes against Opposition’s Margaret Alva, who polled 182.

Know the Candidates:

• CP Radhakrishnan: Born on October 20, 1957, in Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan is a veteran BJP leader with a political career spanning four decades. He was sworn in as the 24th Governor of Maharashtra in July 2024 after serving as Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024.
• B Sudershan Reddy: Born on July 8, 1946, Justice (retd.) Reddy enrolled as an advocate in 1971 and served as Government Pleader in the Andhra Pradesh High Court (1988–90). He was appointed permanent Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 1995, Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court in 2005, and later served as a Supreme Court Judge from 2007 until his retirement in July 2011.