Amidst cross voting, Venkaiah Naidu breaks 30 year record to become VP of India

Among the 15 MPs who didn’t vote, 3 belonged to the NDA while 11 were seen as Opposition supporters.

Venkaiah Naidu beat Goplakrishna Gandhi in the Vice Presidential elections on Saturday by 272 votes. Naidu got 516 votes as opposed to the 244 bagged by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

Naidu incidentally broke a 30 year old record by securing such a high number of votes. While the BJP was expecting 502 votes for Naidu, it appears that he secured a higher number after 20 lawmakers cross voted.

In the absence of a whip, it would not be possible to know who had cross voted. However it is suspected that the recent alignment with the JD(U) may have resulted in Naidu's swell in numbers.

Following his impressive victory, Naidu a man famous for his one-liners said, " I never imagined I would be here. Agriculture has no proper voice in Indian polity. As Rajya Sabha chairman, I will sincerely try to steer the functioning of the House to enable it to effectively further the larger interests of the nation."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Naidu will serve the nation as a diligent and dedicated Vice President, committed to the goal of nation-building. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Gopalkrishna Gandhi, too, congratulated Naidu.

Of the 786 votes in the electoral college, 771 or 98.21% votes were cast, the highest ever for VP polls. Fifteen MPs did not cast their votes and 11 others' were declared invalid.

Among the 15 MPs who didn't vote, 3 belonged to the NDA while 11 were seen as Opposition supporters. An Independent MP, two IUML MPs, four Trinamool Congress and two Congress members and an NCP MP were among those who didn't vote.

BJP's Vijay Goel and Sanwarlal Jat were in hospital while Chedi Paswan was not allowed to vote due to an ongoing litigation. PMK's Anbumani Ramdoss skipped voting.

OneIndia News