New VP, necessary course correction

C P Radhakrishnan’s election as Vice-President was a foregone conclusion as the NDA, which nominated him, has a decisive majority in the electoral college. Radhakrishnan won with a thumping majority, exceeding expectations by securing votes even from the Opposition fold. The Opposition candidate, B Sudershan Reddy, polled 15 votes short of the number of Opposition MPs who voted. The election also witnessed 15 invalid votes. From nomination to campaigning to voting, the ruling coalition focused on the minutest of details. The Opposition found an eminent candidate in Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge. However, the polling of Opposition votes for the NDA candidate reveals that this was not quite a united bloc – the election exposed cracks in what was pitched as a strong campaign against the NDA candidate.

Radhakrishnan, who is the 15th Vice-President of the country, is a long-time RSS loyalist from Tamil Nadu and the BJP has its political reasons for elevating him to the second highest constitutional position in the country. The party has been trying to make an entry in Tamil Nadu and hopes that the election of Radhakrishnan would provide an impetus to its campaigns in the state. Radhakrishnan has had a distinguished career as an MP and as the Governor of Jharkhand and Maharashtra. He has a reputation of keeping good relations with leaders across the political spectrum. This acceptability should help him discharge his functions as the Vice-President.

The most important responsibility of the Vice-President is to preside over the Rajya Sabha as its Chairman. Efficient handling of the House will be a key challenge for Radhakrishnan. His predecessor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, whose resignation necessitated the election, had an abrasive and combative style which gave little space for the Opposition in the House. The government’s demands on him and his own personal reasons may have prompted Dhankhar to take unreasonable positions which alienated the Opposition. The idea that the Opposition has a role which is as important as that of the treasury benches in a democracy was not honoured, leading to acrimony and discontent in parliament. The Rajya Sabha, being the House of Elders, was once a sombre platform for debate and discussion. It has lost that reputation in recent years. Radhakrishnan has an opportunity to bring sanity, fairness, and dignity to the running of the House and make it a true platform for democratic discourse. The House has had presiding officers who rose above their personal and political positions and convictions and left a stamp on parliamentary history. The new V-P will hopefully meet that challenge.