- Opposition parties seek consensus candidate for Vice President election by Thursday deadline
- BJP has nominated CP Radhakrishnan from Tamil Nadu as Vice Presidential candidate
- Trinamool Congress demands a non-political candidate and has opposed Tamil vs Tamil contest
Opposition parties have been trying to finalise a candidate for the Vice Presidential election after addressing concerns raised by the Trinamool Congress, among others. The Mamata Banerjee-led party has pitched for a non-political figure for the country's second-highest Constitutional post and also stressed that INDIA allies must avoid a Tamil vs Tamil contest. But, a non-Tamil candidate will put the DMK in a spot as the NDA has already announced veteran BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, CP Radhakrishnan, as its pick.
The Opposition has two days to finalise its candidate as the deadline for filing nominations ends Thursday. A meeting in Delhi is expected later today as partners in the INDIA bloc brainstorm to find a consensus pick. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge may call Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and DMK leader MK Stalin to discuss the big question.
The two names currently doing the rounds are Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson and author Tushar Gandhi, and former ISRO scientist Mylswamy Annadurai, but INDIA partners are yet to reach a consensus.
The Tamil Nadu Math In Veep Election
The BJP has chosen CP Radhakrishnan, currently the Maharashtra Governor, with an eye on the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls next year.
Tamil pride is an emotive issue in the southern state and the BJP has been pressuring the DMK to back the NDA pick. "Politics should not come in the way of honouring such recognition for our state," Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Nainar Nagenthran said in an appeal of Mr Stalin.
DMK, however, has said that the BJP's choice for the top post must be viewed politically, not through the prism of language.
"He is an RSS man, a BJP candidate. Should be viewed politically, not just by language. This is a post for VP. We (Tamilians) already have had two presidents, R Venkatraman and Abdul Kalam, who were presidents of India, so we have seen presidents," DMK leader TKS Elangovan told ANI.
The choice of CP Radhakrishnan, meanwhile, appears to have sweetened the equations between the BJP and the AIADMK and may act as a catalyst as they consider joining hands for the state polls next year, two years after the Tamil Nadu-led party's split with the BJP.
The Trinamool Conditions
In the last Vice Presidential election in 2022, in which Jagdeep Dhankhar was elected to the post, the Trinamool Congress had abstained from voting. The Opposition's candidate, Congress veteran Margaret Alva, lost by a big margin. The Bengal-based party had then said it decided to abstain because it was not kept in the loop while deciding the candidate.
This time, the Trinamool is part of the Opposition's meetings and has indicated that it will not go down the abstention path. Senior party leader Derek O'Brien, authorised by the Trinamool leadership to put forward the party's point of view, was part of these meetings.
In the meetings, the party listed its preferences. Amid the chatter about DMK veteran Tiruchi Siva as a choice for the top post, Trinamool pushed for a non-political figure. When the discussion moved to former ISRO scientist Annadurai's name, Trinamool's O'Brien is learnt to have advised against a Tamil vs Tamil fight. The Trinamool's argument, sources said, is that the Opposition should fight the election as an ideological contest and send a message.
This will put the DMK in a fix because the BJP would then step up its campaign against the MK Stalin-led party and try to paint it as a betrayer of the Tamil cause.
It was then that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP proposed Tushar Gandhi's name. The parties are yet to reach a consensus on this.
Does Opposition Have A Chance
As Opposition parties brainstorm to find a mutually acceptable candidate, the big question is: can they win the Vice Presidential election? The Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The current electoral college, excluding the vacancies, has 782 members. This means that the winning side needs to have at least 392 votes.
The NDA has 293 seats in Lok Sabha and 133 in Rajya Sabha. Going by the numbers, the BJP will comfortably put CP Radhakrishnan in the Vice President post. Only if a group of NDA members rebel and vote for the Opposition pick can the tables turn. At this point, such a surprise seems unlikely.
The Opposition's move to force a contest is largely an optics game to ensure that the BJP does not get a walkover. A contest, however tilted, will provide the Opposition to showcase its unity at a time when it is pushing hard to corner the government on the issue of alleged poll irregularities.
The NDA, meanwhile, is campaigning for its candidate. In its Parliamentary Party meeting this morning, Prime Minister Modi appealed to all MPs, especially those in the Opposition, to support CP Radhakrishnan. "There is no controversy in his life, no corruption, no stain; he has lived a very simple life and has only worked for society and the country. If such a person becomes the Vice President of the country, it will be a matter of great happiness for the country," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said.
