Congress MP Manish Tewari on Wednesday termed cross-voting by several Opposition MPs in the vice-presidential election an “extremely serious matter” and demanded a probe, as the BJP taunted “the rift in the INDI Alliance”.

NDA nominee C.P. Radhakrishnan secured over a dozen extra votes than the official estimates of his managers in Tuesday’s election, buttressing claims of cross-voting by several INDIA MPs. The NDA had 427 votes, and along with the support of 11 YSR Congress Party votes, its tally was pegged at 438. However, Radhakrishnan got 452 votes.

The Opposition candidate, former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy, bagged 300 first preference votes, which was 15 less than the official strength of the
INDIA parties.

“Special thanks to some MPs of INDI Alliance who voted with ‘Conscience’ for NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan in the VP election,” parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju posted on X, seeking to tease the Opposition.

Rijiju celebrated the unity of the ruling NDA and “all our friendly MPs”, an apparent reference to 11 YSRCP MPs and cross-voters from the Opposition benches.

As the minister rubbed it in, Congress MP Tewari, known for his testy relationship with his party leadership, called for a probe into the cross-voting.

“If there was cross-voting, then it should be seriously investigated by each of the constituents of the INDIA bloc. Cross-voting is an extremely serious matter,” Tewari, a Lok Sabha member from Chandigarh, told reporters. He stressed the need for a “systematic and clinical investigation”.

Votes are cast through a secret ballot in the vice-presidential election, making it impossible to identify the MPs who could have voted against their party line. Party whips are not applicable in the VP election, but MPs are expected to follow their party line.

Sources in the ruling establishment claimed that they had contacted “vulnerable” members from each constituent of the INDIA bloc. In addition to cross-voting, the 15 invalid votes also indicated a deliberate act, mostly by Opposition MPs.

“We played into the rift in the Opposition. We had made a list of MPs from each of the Opposition parties who were vulnerable as they have differences with their leadership,” a BJP leader said.

Most fingers pointed towards Opposition MPs from Maharashtra and the rift-ridden Aam Aadmi Party. Radhakrishnan is the governor of Maharashtra, and it was feared that MPs from the state could have broken away and backed him.

The AAP has nine members in the Rajya Sabha and three in the Lok Sabha, and it is being speculated that some of them could have cross-voted, given the disarray in the party after losing power in Delhi. There was no reaction from the party on the accusation.

Asked about allegations that MPs from Maharashtra had voted for the NDA candidate, NCP (SP) parliamentarian and working president Supriya Sule said: “If the voting was secret, how did you know? I don’t know whose votes were divided? If 14 were divided, what did Maharashtra do? The state is being defamed.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant sought to accuse the BJP of having “bought” some Opposition MPs, picking on the invalid votes.