Cracks in INDIA bloc as cross-voting debunks unity claims

IN a vote that was expected to be a symbolic show of strength for the Opposition, the vice-presidential election on Tuesday has instead left the INDIA bloc red-faced with numbers that clearly reveal cross-voting by at least 15 of its own MPs.

- PREETHA NAIR

The NDA's candidate, CP Radhakrishnan, defeated Opposition-backed Justice B Sudhershan Reddy by 152 votes, one of the narrowest in recent vice-presidential contests.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh declared on X that all 315 Opposition MPs had turned up to vote, calling it an "unprecedented 100% turnout". By that logic, Reddy should have got at least 315 votes—even more if factoring in AAP's 12 MPs, who were expected to support him despite their uneasy ties with the INDIA bloc.