New Delhi, September 8 (HS): The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have declared that they will abstain from voting in Tuesday’s vice-presidential election. Both regional parties made it clear on Monday that their MPs will not participate in the crucial ballot.

The vice-presidential election is set for Tuesday, with NDA candidate C.P. Radhakrishnan facing INDIA bloc nominee Justice B. Sudershan Reddy in a direct contest. Members of both Houses of Parliament will cast their votes between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

In Odisha, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra announced that party president Naveen Patnaik, after consulting PAC members, senior leaders, and MPs, decided to stay away from the poll. The BJD currently holds seven MPs.

Echoing a similar stance, BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao confirmed that his party, with 10 MPs, will also abstain. Slamming both the BJP and Congress for failing to address the acute fertilizer shortage in Telangana, he said farmers are facing such severe scarcity of urea that scuffles are breaking out in distribution queues. He added that if the NOTA option had been available in this election, BRS would have opted for it.

Out of 781 eligible votes, 48 belong to MPs not aligned with either the NDA or INDIA bloc. The NDA holds a comfortable position with 31 votes above the 391 needed for victory, while the INDIA bloc has 312 votes in its kitty.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar