Overview

• In Ranchi, B. Sudarshan Reddy met Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Jharkhand leaders, with Soren assuring support and inviting MPs to vote by conscience.
• Reddy said he has written to all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members to consider his candidacy on merit and noted the vice-presidential ballot has no whip.
• He questioned the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and cited Soren’s arrest to argue that constitutional dignity and institutional independence must be protected.
• In Mumbai a day earlier, Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar declared full MVA backing, as Pawar rejected requests to support NDA nominee C. P. Radhakrishnan.
• Five Left parties issued a joint endorsement framing the contest as a defense of constitutional values, while the Election Commission confirmed the Sept. 9 poll with an electoral college of 781 and a majority mark of 391.