Candidates have now been announced from both NDA and India Block for the post of Vice President. While the NDA has nominated Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as its candidate, India Block has retired Supreme Court Judge B.C. Sudarshan Reddy has been fielded. In this way, on the one hand, Modi has praised the NDA candidate, saying that Radhakrishnan does not play political sports, but is a settled politician. On the other hand, the opposition has described India Block candidate Reddy as a non -political face and said that the current election is a fight for ideology (Sangh vs Progressive). In ordinary language, the Vice Presidential election has also been made a new arena for the political fight of Nationalism versus secularism, whose strategic meaning is also interesting.
Although the NDA is heavy in the number force, the power of the ruling party is heavy, but this fight seems more symbolic than the figures. If seen, on the question of their political importance, the opposition also showed solidarity and tried to convey a message to the ruling party that it is not going to give free hand to the government on any front. The opposition may or may not benefit from this move, but the questioning of the parties involved in the NDA will increase. At the same time, if any colleague ambuses a little bit, then the ruling party can also be gritty.
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This is the reason that in view of the current Vice Presidential elections, some questions are being raised- especially for the selection of candidates. First of all, the way both central political alliances have given their names to their respective candidates from South India, the politicians of North India have been cheated. It is noteworthy that Radhakrishnan, who became an NDA candidate unanimously, comes from Tamil Nadu, while Sudarshan Reddy from Telangana (Old Andhra Pradesh). Therefore, both faces being from South India cannot be just a political coincidence, but there is a planned political plan of both competitive political alliances behind it and that is why this election becomes even more interesting.
Second, opposition party NDA candidate Radhakrishnan and India Block candidate Reddy are describing the fight for ideology. Because they say that when the NDA is trusting the man of the Union, he is putting a progressive ideology i.e. secular candidate. The way Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, along with representatives of all parties of the coalition, announced a brief note from the stage and announced the name of Vice Presidential candidate Reddy of India Block, is very important.
As Kharge has said that all parties have unanimously approved Reddy’s candidature. This is a big moment for democracy in terms of opposition unity. Therefore, he called Reddy the champion of political justice. Whereas TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O Bryan said from the stage that the Aam Aadmi Party is also with the block in this decision. It is reported that informal conversations were held on this issue with all the parties inside the India block last Monday and Tuesday morning.
In fact, in this whole process, there was a discussion on Monday about four-five names, but due to some reason, he was not able to live up to the entire criteria. Meanwhile, the names of the former director of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Mileswamy Annadurai and social activist Tushar Gandhi from Tamil Nadu discussed. When these important names also could not be agreed, on Tuesday afternoon, the name of Reddy was named in front of the representatives of all the components on Tuesday afternoon, on which no objection was raised by anyone.
It is said that Reddy’s name has also been associated with social engineering of Congress -ruled Telangana. The government has led the panel for the analysis of data of social, economic, educational, employment, political and caste survey by Reddy. At the same time, it was made clear from parties like TMC that whatever person who came out in candidature from India Block should be non -political. Therefore, a consensus was formed in the name of Reddy.
It is said that TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had told Tamil Nadu leader Stalin that there would not be a good sign of making the election a Tamil Nadu vs Tamil Nadu. Then came that someone from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh should be chosen. It was said that the BJP would redeem it to the south. Then it was agreed to avoid small political names. Then everyone agreed in the name of Justice Sudarshan Reddy. This makes the Congress feel that it can also present its credibility in Andhra Pradesh by presenting this name.
Since, the opposition coalition is also monitored by parties from the southern states. A leader of the opposition has also said that he hopes that YRCP will now consider its stance again. Explain that YRACP has announced on Monday that he will support NDA candidate Radhakrishnan for the post of Vice President. The opposition is considering it as a counter of Radhakrishnan’s candidature, through which NDA wants to think of parties like DMK.
Third, it is still a difficult task for BJP -led NDA to establish its roots in South India. Since his frozen-Jamai in Karnataka also dried up, his political difficulties can be understood. Whereas for the politics of the opposition, South India has been a fertile political ground from the beginning, from where it has always presented a strong challenge to the BJP. Therefore, it can be said that Reddy, declared for this post in the ongoing Vice Presidential election, is an extended form of the predetermined political fight.
Especially the way NDA collaborative TDP has announced the support of India Block candidate Radhakrishnan, its effective impact is also clearly visible on the strategy of the ruling party and Prime Minister Modi has sought cooperation from opposition parties for NDA candidate Radhakrishna in Vice Presidential elections. It is a matter of happiness for him that the DMK of India Block has decided to support NDA candidate Radhakrishnan.
Therefore, it is being said that the election for the post of Vice President has brought both the opportunity and challenge for both central political alliances. If 100 percent voting is done, then there will be 394 votes to win elections by mixing both houses. While NDA has a number force of 422. Since the Vice President is elected by secret voting and members are not tied to the party whip. Therefore, it is a challenge to showcase the power of both the government and the opposition.
This is the reason that efforts are being made to increase the scope of their support from both political groups. Especially the regional parties coming from the south will be eyeing both NDA and India blocks. It is being told that ideological conflict will also increase in the current Vice Presidential elections, because the post of Vice President does not belong to any party. Therefore, if someone was unanimously chosen, it would have been better if someone was unanimously selected.
However, in the present political situation, such a possibility is not visible far and wide. In the kind of tension political atmosphere in the country for the last few years, the ruling party and the opposition are seen on two opposite poles on most occasions. At the same time, in cases where there was a demand for consent in the House, there was no consensus but disagreement. Whereas this election was fixed, where both the ideological fight and the consequences coming out of it are important.
Since the post of Vice President is also considered an important responsibility in view of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Therefore, there has been a very extraordinary movement around this post in recent months. This is the reason why the outgoing Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, in which and as has gone, can never be called good. Therefore, it is expected that this election will be fought accordingly in a better environment and in view of the honor of this post. Whatever the victory is, it will have an important responsibility to carry forward democratic values and parliamentary traditions. Nevertheless, the question is that a country, the BJP and its allies who gave the slogan of one election, why did this election be imposed on the country untimely?
– Kamlesh Pandey
Senior journalist and political analyst