Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X at 5:14 PM, stating that the opposition was united and all 315 MPs were present for voting, calling it an unprecedented 100% turnout. This claim suggests that the opposition was 15 votes short. Every party is now claiming that there were no cross-voters from their camp.

Meanwhile, the NDA has 427 MPs and received 25 extra votes. There are a total of 788 MPs in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Out of these, 781 MPs were eligible to vote, with 7 seats vacant. The NDA has 427 MPs out of 781, while the opposition has 354 MPs. The INDIA alliance accounts for 315 MPs. There are 39 MPs who are not aligned with either the NDA or the INDIA alliance. It is important to know how these 39 MPs voted.

Despite there being no whip in the Vice President election, the opposition managed to persuade all its members to vote. Highlighting the significance of the elections, two Lok Sabha members from the Trinamool Congress, Sudeep Bandopadhyay and Saugata Roy, arrived to vote despite being unwell.

Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will cast their votes in the Vice Presidential election. This includes nominated members of the Rajya Sabha. There is no whip issued for this election, and the voting is conducted through a secret ballot, allowing MPs to vote according to their discretion. However, votes are generally cast along party lines, though cross-voting has occurred in previous elections and is a possibility this time as well.

With 239 members in the Rajya Sabha and 542 in the Lok Sabha, a victory requires 391 votes. The NDA currently holds 425 MPs and is confident of securing additional votes from other parties. The YSRCP has announced its intention to vote in favor of the NDA, holding 7 Rajya Sabha and 4 Lok Sabha MPs. This brings the NDA’s support to 436 MPs. The BJP anticipates that Aam Aadmi Party member Swati Maliwal might also vote for the NDA.

Meanwhile, the BJD has not yet finalized its stance. The BRS has decided to abstain from voting in the Vice Presidential election. The BJD might support the NDA, and its leader, Naveen Patnaik, is in Delhi, potentially discussing support for the NDA with BJP leaders. The BRS has 4 Rajya Sabha MPs, and the BJD has 7.

The Lok Sabha’s 7 independent members have yet to declare their voting intentions, and the positions of the Akali Dal, ZPM, and VOTTP, each with one MP, are also unclear. The opposition currently holds 324 votes, and the margin of victory is expected to be between one hundred and one hundred and twenty-five votes.

In the 2022 election, Jagdeep Dhankhar defeated the opposition’s Margaret Alva by 346 votes. The margin of victory is expected to be smaller this time because the opposition is in a stronger position than before.

The NDA sources indicate that the opposition candidate is expected to receive around 150 votes in the Rajya Sabha and is anticipated to receive fewer than 90 votes. The NDA and the India bloc are conducting training sessions and mock polls for their MPs to ensure that every vote is valid and to prevent any votes from being invalidated.

There will be four sessions for the MPs in this workshop. The first session will be on Self-reliant India, Swadeshi Bharat, Ease of Doing Business, and Youth Power and Employment. The second session will be on the effective use of social media by MPs. The third session will be of the parliamentary committee groups. Discussions will be held with MPs according to the parliamentary committees of different ministries.

Discussions will be held on the importance of parliamentary committee proceedings, preparation for the Parliament session, use of parliamentary rules, study of ministry reports, information on subordinate legislation, behavior and precautions as an MP, participation in the direction meeting, etc. In the fourth session, discussions will be held on the maritime area, the Left Wing area, the rural area, the urban area, and the hilly and North-Eastern region.

Training on the Vice Presidential election will be provided. Discussions will be held on the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, TB Free India, MP Sports, Tiffin meeting, and innovations in activism in parliamentary constituencies. On Monday, MPs will be trained about the Vice Presidential election. Along with this, MPs will also be informed about the process of the Vice Presidential election, the way of voting, the precautions of voting, etc.

The Vice Presidential election will witness a direct contest between CP Radhakrishnan, the candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and B. Sudarshan Reddy, the retired judge of the Supreme Court, who is the opposition’s candidate. However, Radhakrishnan appears to be ahead in terms of numbers. The BJP says that changes in GST will reduce the tax burden on the people and give impetus to the economy.

The BJP and its allies hope that the positive sentiment among the people regarding the fall in prices of many goods will help them in the Bihar assembly elections. Elections are expected to be held in Bihar in November. The BJP workshop will have several sessions, including lessons on the history and development of the party, as well as improving the efficiency of the MPs.