Radhakrishnan vs Sudershan Reddy: After BJD, BRS to abstain from Vice Presidential election –’expression of anguish’

The two fence-sitters, K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD), have announced they will abstain from voting in the high-stakes Vice Presidential polls scheduled for Tuesday, 9 September.

Both parties have asserted that they remain ‘equidistant’ from both the NDA and the INDIA bloc, news agency PTI reported. The two parties are called fence-sitters since they are not aligned with either of the two major alliances – the ruling NDA and the Opposition’s INDIA bloc.

BRS Working President KT Rama Rao said on Monday that his party would abstain from the Vice Presidential election as an expression of the “anguish” of Telangana’s farmers over the shortage of urea in the state. He alleged that both the Congress and the BJP have “failed” to address the shortage issue.

The shortage is such that scuffles are taking place among farmers while waiting in queues for urea, the BRS leader said. “We are abstaining. We are not going to participate,” he told reporters. The BRS could have exercised the option of NOTA had it been available in the Vice Presidential election, he said.

Earlier, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said it would abstain from voting in the vice presidential polls and asserted that the party remains “equidistant” from both the NDA and the INDIA bloc.

BJD leader Sasmit Patra also said his party’s priority is the “four-and-a-half crore people of Odisha”.

“(Following) discussions by our honourable party president, Mr Naveen Patnaik with the party’s senior leaders, Political Affairs Committee and MPs, the Biju Janata Dal has decided to abstain from the vice presidential elections tomorrow,” Patra said.

Our priority is the four-and-a-half crore people of Odisha.

“The BJD remains equidistant from both the NDA and INDIA alliances. We are focused on the development and welfare of Odisha and four-and-a-half crore people of Odisha,” he said.

The vice presidential election, a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy, will take place in Parliament House. Members of both Houses of Parliament will cast their votes between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM on Tuesday.