"Rs 15-20 crores reportedly spent on each person": Abhishek Banerjee alleges attempts to buy votes in Vice President poll

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 11 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee has alleged that “Rs 15-20 crores was reportedly” used to influence representatives during the Vice Presidential elections.

He further said that due to the secret ballot, it’s challenging to determine if cross-voting occurred or if opposition votes were discarded.

In a social media post on X, the official handle of All India Trinamool Congress, quoting Banerjee, wrote, “Yesterday was the Vice-Presidential election. All our MPs were present and cast their votes for our candidate, B. Sudershan Reddy. As this was a secret ballot, it is difficult to confirm whether there was any cross-voting or if Opposition members’ votes were discarded. Yesterday, I spoke to a few sources and learned that Rs 15-20 crore was reportedly spent on each person to influence votes. Representatives may be bought, but the people cannot.”

In the Vice-Presidential elections, conducted on September 9, NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan was elected as the 15th Vice President of India after securing 452 first preference votes.

Opposition candidate Justice (Retd) B Sudershan Reddy received 300 votes, while 15 votes were declared invalid.

A total voter turnout of 98.20 per cent was recorded, with 767 MPs casting their votes out of 781.

Announcing the result, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer PC Mody said that 767 out of 781 MPs cast their votes, recording a turnout of 98.2 per cent. Of these, 752 ballots were valid and 15 were invalid, lowering the required majority of first preference votes to 377.

While the NDA had the backing of 427 MPs on paper, 11 lawmakers from the YSRCP also supported Radhakrishnan. Interestingly, the NDA candidate received 14 votes more than expected, sparking speculation of cross-voting from the Opposition camp.

Following the announcement of results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated CP Radhakrishnan and expressed confidence that the newly elected Vice President would strengthen India’s constitutional values and contribute positively to parliamentary discourse.

The oath-taking ceremony of Radhakrishnan is scheduled for the morning of September 12, Friday, at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath of office to Radhakrishnan. (ANI)

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