CP Radhakrishnan (left) and Sudershan Reddy.
Credit: PTI Photos
The ruling NDA and the Opposition have announced candidates for the Vice-Presidential election, setting the stage for an intense contest for the country’s second-highest constitutional position. While there is no denying the political heat around the contest, the outcome is more or less certain.
The election comes against the backdrop of a series of confrontations between the government and the Opposition and a special circumstance that necessitated the poll – the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, whose sudden decision is yet to be explained. The position of the Vice-President, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, cannot be
left vacant, as in the case of the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Both sides have made strategic choices for their candidates, and there is unmistakable politics in play. The NDA has gone for the long game while the Opposition is aiming specifically at the immediate contest. CP Radhakrishnan, the NDA candidate, is a senior BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, a two-time Lok Sabha MP, and currently the Governor of Maharashtra. The Opposition has picked former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy as its candidate.
In choosing Radhakrishnan, the BJP is eyeing political returns in Tamil Nadu, where the party has been trying to make inroads for a long time. It has a following in the western districts of the state and among the Gounder caste to which Radhakrishnan belongs. By backing Radhakrishnan, who has an RSS background, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be sending out a message to the RSS. A Tamil as a V-P pick is also a move to create confusion within the DMK and a division in the Opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc.
The Opposition has responded on similar lines by nominating Reddy, an eminent jurist from undivided Andhra Pradesh. It had considered fielding a Tamil to counter the BJP’s language card but settled on a Telugu, possibly to pose a question to TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu, whose support is crucial for the Narendra Modi government, the YSR Congress, and the BRS in Telangana.
Naidu has declared that his party would support Radhakrishnan, just as the DMK has stated that it would back Reddy. The Opposition wants to present the election as a fight between the RSS and the Constitution. While the NDA has clear dominance in the electoral college and no surprise is expected in the election, the two camps have done well to stage a keen and healthy fight. Hopefully, it will be waged in the right democratic spirit.