The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has finalised the candidature of Maharashtra governor C P Radhakrishnan as the Vice-Presidential candidate, has begun talking to all political parties to get their support for him in the by-elections scheduled to be held on September 9.
The election has been necessitated with the resignation of veteran leader Jagdeep Dhankhar as the Vice-President of India. The last date for filing of nominations for the Vice-Presidential election is August 21.
As part of the efforts to seek the support of all parties, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday spoke to YSR Congress party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and requested his party’s support to Radhakrishnan.
The Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
In Andhra Pradesh, the three alliance partners - TDP, BJP, and Jana Sena - together have 21 Lok Sabha and 4 Rajya Sabha MPs. It goes without saying that they would vote in favour of the NDA candidate.
It is not immediately known what Jagan had replied to Rajnath Singh’s request, but it has led to the discussion on what stand he would take on the V-P elections.
Currently, YSRCP holds 7 Rajya Sabha and 4 Lok Sabha seats. Jagan's stance in this Vice-Presidential election may mark a decisive shift in future political alignments.
Back in 2018, even though the TDP was part of the NDA, YSRCP had supported NDA's decisions.
The TDP subsequently exited the NDA alliance, and YSRCP came to power in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, obviously with behind the screen support from the BJP.
Until the 2024 elections, YSRCP supported NDA bills in Parliament unconditionally.
However, with several cases now pending against YSRCP leaders and a spate of arrests taking place, there is intense speculation over whether Jagan will continue to support the NDA.
Political circles suggest that Jagan still enjoys indirect backing from key BJP leaders.
Based on this assumption, party leaders believe that Jagan is unlikely to support the Congress-led opposition bloc and will instead remain aligned with the NDA.
Moreover, it was only a few days ago that Jagan made drastic comments against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, refusing to support the latter’s fight against alleged vote theft across the country, particularly in Bihar when the assembly elections are due later this year.
He even alleged that Rahul Gandhi had been in touch with TDP president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on hotline and so, the Congress is unreliable party.
Since his sister Y S Sharmila is heading the Congress in AP, taking a strong anti-YSRCP stand, he won’t support the Congress-backed candidate in Vice-President elections, sources said.
So, the option before Jagan is to either stay away from the elections or support the BJP candidate. If the latter option is exercised, it will send a wrong message to the party cadre and also the people, as the BJP is part of TDP-led coalition in Andhra Pradesh.
Even if Jagan stays away from the contest, it hardly matters for the NDA, as it already has the majority required to win the Vice-Presidential election.
Out of 786 total members in both Houses, 394 votes are needed for a win. The NDA reportedly commands the support of 422 MPs.
