NEW DELHI: Nominee of the ruling NDA alliance and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan was declared the winner of the vice-presidential contest, having secured 452 first preference votes against the joint Opposition’s candidate, former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, who got 300 first preference votes, Returning Officer and Rajya Sabha Secretary-General P C Mody announced here on Tuesday.
The result meant a victory margin of 152 votes for Radhakrishnan who will now become the 15th Vice-President of India. The voting began at 10 am and the process was completed at 5 pm. Counting of votes began at 6 pm.
Regional parties like the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) abstained from the elections. BJD said its decision is part of its policy of “maintaining an equal distance” from both the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led INDIA blocs. BRS working president K T Rama Rao said his party’s move is an expression of “anguish” of Telangana’s farmers over the shortage of urea in the state. SAD said it will boycott the poll in the wake of floods in Punjab.
Out of 788 eligible MPs, 767 exercised their franchise in the vice-presidential election, marking a turnout of 98.2 per cent. 752 were valid and 15 were invalid, said PC Mody. It brought down the required majority of first preference votes to 377.
Radhakrishnan’s victory margin was bigger than expected, indicating cross-voting from the rival camp. Though the victory of Radhakrishnan (67), currently the Maharashtra governor and a seasoned leader with an RSS background and decades-long stint first in the Jana Sangh and then the BJP in Tamil Nadu, was a foregone conclusion due to the ruling alliance’s numerical edge, the extent of his victory margin is a setback to the Opposition.
Hours before the result, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh had claimed that the Opposition has stood united. “All of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting,” he said. The final tally in favour of Reddy, a retired Supreme Court judge, was 300, decidedly less than expected by the Opposition camp, as some MPs unaligned to the two blocs had also announced their support for him.BJP leaders were quick to claim that at least 15 Opposition MPs voted in favour of Radhakrishnan. There were hints from the ruling alliance that some Opposition MPs deliberately cast invalid votes.
“Congratulations to Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji on winning the 2025 Vice Presidential election. His life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalised,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X. “I am confident that he will be an outstanding VP, who will strengthen our Constitutional values and enhance Parliamentary discourse,” he said.
Justice Reddy said he humbly accepts the result and wished vice president-elect Radhakrishnan the very best as he embarks upon his tenure.
The poll was necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21, almost two years before his term was to end.
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 present strength of the electoral college is 781, as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha.
The BJP-led NDA had on paper 427 MPs in its alliance, with the YSR Congress also extending the support of its 11 MPs to its candidate. Some MPs representing smaller parties also backed Radhakrishnan.
The Congress congratulated the NDA nominee on his win and said its ideological battle against the ruling alliance will continue “undiminished”. “This was more than an election, it was a battle of ideology,” said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge after Vice President poll results.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also greeted Radhakrishnan. “I firmly believe that your sagacity as a leader who has risen from the grassroots of the society and profound knowledge about administration will help us in bringing out the best in our parliamentary democracy to serve the marginalised,” he said.