Vice President Election: BJD To Abstain From Voting, Citing Differences With NDA, INDIA-Bloc

By Aditya Jha
Mon, 08 Sep 2025 04:07 PM (IST)

Source:PTI

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday said it will abstain from voting in the vice presidential polls, and asserted that the party remains "equidistant" from both the NDA and the INDIA bloc. BJD leader Sasmit Patra also said his party's priority is the "four-and-a-half crore people of Odisha". "(Following) discussions by our honourable party president, Mr Naveen Patnaik with the party's senior leaders, Political Affairs Committee and MPs, the Biju Janata Dal has decided to abstain from the vice presidential elections tomorrow," Patra said.

"The BJD remains equidistant from both the NDA and INDIA alliances. We are focused on the development and welfare of Odisha and four-and-a-half crore people of Odisha," he said. The vice presidential election, a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy, will take place in Parliament House, where members of both Houses of Parliament will cast their votes between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm on Tuesday.

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The elections for the President and Vice President are meant to be a free and independent vote, not controlled by party lines. To ensure this, the Election Commission of India conducts polls with secret ballots, which means no MP can show their ballot paper to any other person and will have to vote secretly.

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Moreover, the parties are barred from issuing a whip, unlike the voting process on bills and motions. Without whips, the MPs can vote for any candidate they want, irrespective of their party. Reddy highlighted this, arguing that the love for the country must guide the choice above the loyalty to parties. In his 12-minute-long video message for members of Parliament, he said, "In this election, there is no party whip, and the ballot is secret. It is not loyalty to any political party, but love for the country that must guide your choice. Each one of you carry the moral responsibility to preserve the conscience, the soul of our beloved nation".

(Note: Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Daily Jagran staff. Credit: PTI)