Overview

• Returning officer P.C. Mody declared C.P. Radhakrishnan the 15th Vice-President with 452 first-preference votes to B. Sudershan Reddy’s 300, with 15 ballots invalid from 767 votes cast, lowering the majority mark to 377.
• Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju publicly thanked some INDIA bloc MPs for voting with “conscience,” and BJP leader B.L. Santhosh said the opposition candidate polled about 15 fewer votes than expected under the bloc’s arithmetic.
• Opposition leaders asserted full turnout of 315 MPs for their nominee yet began internal checks on cross-voting or spoiled ballots, citing informal tallies that point to losses in smaller parties while acknowledging the secret ballot prevents verification.
• Congress whip Manickam Tagore alleged “vote theft,” and TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee claimed large sums were used to influence votes, assertions reported as allegations without independent confirmation.
• With BJD, BRS and SAD not participating, the Vice-President–elect’s oath is scheduled for September 12 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, as parties press expectations for impartial conduct in the Rajya Sabha chair.