NDA nominee and veteran RSS-BJP leader C.P. Radhakrishnan was elected Vice-President on Tuesday, defeating INDIA bloc candidate and former Supreme
Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy by a margin of 152 first-preference votes.

The election saw significant cross-voting from Opposition ranks, turning what was projected as an “ideological battle” into a contest marked by internal dissent within the INDIA bloc.

Radhakrishnan, a former BJP heavyweight from Tamil Nadu, secured 452 first-preference votes — 25 more than the official NDA strength of 427 — indicating at least two dozen Opposition MPs voted in his favour. In contrast, Reddy received just 300 votes, falling 15 short of the INDIA bloc’s claimed support of 315 MPs.

The BJP is certain to use the victory to send out a message to the key southern state, which votes next year.

The vice-presidential polls were necessitated because of the shock resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament on July 21.

Rajya Sabha secretary-general P.C. Modi, the designated returning officer for the election, said that out of the 767 votes cast, 15 were found to be invalid. “752 valid votes were cast,” he told reporters.

The total electors comprising MPs of both Houses of Parliament was 781. The turnout was 98.2 per cent with 767 MPs casting their votes.

After the closure of polling at 5pm, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had claimed an “unprecedented 100 per cent turnout” of Opposition MPs. “The Opposition has stood united. ALL of its 315 MPs have turned up for voting,” Ramesh said on X.

The claim, however, didn’t reflect in the final score of 300 first-preference votes polled by Reddy. The identities of the 15 MPs, who had cast invalid votes, were not clear, but the final result indicated that many of them could be from the Opposition. The same number of votes were found invalid in the 2022 vice-presidential election when Dhankhar was elected.

“Many Opposition MPs had voted for the NDA nominee as the Opposition candidate was controversial,” BJP chief whip in the Lok Sabha Sanjay Jaiswal told reporters. To buttress his claim, Jaiswal said that the official strength of the NDA was 427, so the tally of 452 clearly showed cross-voting by Opposition MPs.

“Rahul Gandhi had urged his MPs to listen to their ‘inner conscience’ and so the Opposition members have voted for the NDA candidate with a clean image and not Reddy, who helped Maoists,” Jaiswal took a sarcastic dig at the Congress.

After the defeat, Reddy said in a statement: “Though the result is not in my favour, the larger cause we have collectively sought to advance remains undiminished. The ideological battle continues with greater vigour. Our democracy is strengthened not by victory alone, but by the spirit of dialogue, dissent and participation.”

Ramesh, however, played down the defeat, terming the BJP’s “arithmetical victory” a “moral and political defeat”, comparing it with the lastVP election.

He said on X: “The Opposition stood united for the Vice-Presidential election. Its performance has undeniably been most respectable. Its joint candidate Justice (retd) B. Sudershan Reddy secured 40 per cent of the vote. In 2022, the Opposition had received 26 per cent of the vote...”

Ramesh added: “The BJP’s arithmetical victory is really both a moral and political defeat. The ideological battle continues undiminished.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the first to cast his vote in the morning, congratulated Radhakrishnan for the victory. “Congratulations to Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji on winning the 2025 Vice-Presidential election. His life has always been devoted to serving society and empowering the poor and marginalised. I am confident that he will be an outstanding VP, who will strengthen our Constitutional values and enhance Parliamentary discourse,” Modi said on X.

Modi did not refer to the victory margin, apparently because it was one of the lowest in vice-presidential polls.

Radhakrishnan, who had started as an RSS cadre, took to X to thank Modi for his greetings. “My heartfelt thanks to our Honourable Prime Minister Shri. @narendramodi Ji,” he said.

In 2022, Dhankhar had secured 528 votes, beating Opposition candidate Margaret Alva by the highest margin in the last six vice-presidential elections. Alva had secured just 182 votes.

The Opposition’s increased tally was largely due to a significant dip in the BJP’s strength in the Lok Sabha in the 2024 general election.

The NDA’s victory margin would have been lower had the 11 YSR Congress party members not voted for Radhakrishnan. A total of 12 MPs from three parties — the BJD, BRS and the Akali Dal — abstained from the elections to maintain equidistance from the BJP and the Congress, highlighting issues related to their states. The absence obliquely helped the ruling side.