- 1 year ago
A day of numbers and loyalties unfolds as MPs vote to elect India’s 14th Vice President. The contest sees NDA’s CP Radhakrishnan face off against the INDIA bloc’s Justice B. Sudershan Reddy. Polling began at 10 am in Parliament, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi casting the first vote.
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NewsTranscript
00:00All right, let's begin with the biggest news today.
00:03Like I pointed out viewers, by the end of the evening, India will have their 14th vice president.
00:09Right now, the numbers stacking up clearly in the favor of NDA.
00:13All eyes, though, on the new VP election.
00:17Will there be cross-voting? That's the big question.
00:20NDA vice president picked CP Radhakrishnan offering prayers before polls.
00:24Yes, CP Radhakrishnan has visited the Ram Temple in Delhi.
00:30Opposition vice president picked Sudarshan ready to reach parliament at 10 a.m.
00:3510 a.m. is when the polling will begin.
00:38Let me quickly break it down for you viewers.
00:40The Electoral College for the nomination and the election of the vice president comprises of Lok Sabha MPs and Rajya Sabha MPs.
00:48Polling starts in the Rajya Sabha secretariat under the presiding officer, the secretary general of the Rajya Sabha, PC Modi, at 10 a.m.
00:57Polling will continue all the way down to 5 p.m. viewers.
01:02And that is when polling will stop, polling will end.
01:06Six o'clock in the evening is when counting will begin.
01:09And by seven o'clock, we will have the results on who has won and how decisively has won the vice presidential elections.
01:18Those visuals that you see on your television screen is the NDA's vice presidential pick, CP Radhakrishnan, at the Ram Temple in Delhi.
01:26On the other hand, the India or the Opposition Alliance's pick, Sudarshan Reddy, would be reaching parliament at 10 a.m.
01:34Prime Minister Modi will be the first to cast his vote exactly at 10 a.m.
01:38One of the main reasons also happens to be that the Prime Minister, right after casting his ballot where the vice president election is concerned, will be touring the states of Himachala and Punjab that are flood-torn.
01:51The NDA nominee and Maharashtra governor, CP Radhakrishnan, arriving there on your television screen.
01:56Shri Ram Mandir in Lodi Road offering prayers.
01:59In the midst of all of this, the battle of narratives already being pitched by both sides.
02:06You have CP Radhakrishnan this morning come out and say, this is going to be, by the end of the evening, the win for nationalism.
02:14On the other hand, you have the opposition and the India Alliance trying to pitch their candidate as the one who represents secular thought and democratic ideologies.
02:25So, a battle of narratives, but it's a battle which seemingly is already won by the NDA where numbers are concerned, but it's going to get interesting and I promise you that.
02:34And you've got to be on India today to catch the latest coming in because will there be cross-voting?
02:39Who will get the bragging rights?
02:40All of this happening right before the Bihar elections.
02:45So, breaking all of that down, but first up, lots of reactions coming in thick and fast.
02:50The election is taking place.
02:54It is going to be a big victory for the Indian nationalism.
03:00We all are one.
03:01We will be one.
03:03India, we want to be the Vikshit Bharat.
03:07And all the victory will lead to the worst that.
03:12We will be the Vikshit Bharat.
03:42but you will be prepared in your country.
03:47Whatever you will be prepared,
03:50I will be prepared for you.
03:54This country is yours,
03:57yours is yours,
03:58yours is yours.
04:12I will put that down later for you.
04:14But I just want to take you through
04:16on what is the protocol
04:17where the vice presidential election is concerned.
04:19It happens in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat,
04:21presiding officer,
04:22the returning officer of that
04:24is the Rajya Sabha Secretary General,
04:26Mr. P.C. Modi.
04:27The Election Commission holds this election.
04:29The Electoral College in this case
04:31particularly comprises of MPs of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
04:35We'll break that down
04:36because right now where Lok Sabha is concerned,
04:39there are 543 MPs,
04:41but you have to take one down,
04:43it's 542,
04:44the total strength of the Lok Sabha primarily
04:46because the Bashir Hart MP from West Bengal
04:49unfortunately passed away.
04:51So that's what the strength down to 542,
04:53one less.
04:54On the other hand,
04:55where Rajya Sabha is concerned viewers,
04:56Rajya Sabha now stands at 239
04:59because there are six vacant seats.
05:01Six of them,
05:02if you break that down,
05:03four come in from Jammu and Kashmir,
05:05one comes in from Punjab
05:06and one,
05:07once again,
05:08the unfortunate demise of Shibu Soren.
05:10So you club the numbers together,
05:12which is 239 and 542,
05:14you come up with the number of 781
05:17and the halfway mark on that is 391 viewers.
05:21So 391 is the magic figure
05:24which the NDA or the Opposition Alliance needs
05:27where both,
05:28if you take into account the Electoral College math,
05:31we break it down in terms of how much does the NDA have,
05:34how much does the India have,
05:35but before I do that,
05:36I want to cut across immediately
05:38to my colleague,
05:39Piyush Mishra,
05:40who's joining us with the latest.
05:42Piyush, a lot will come down to floor management
05:45because one might say,
05:46this is a boring election,
05:47but this is not a boring election,
05:49Piyush,
05:50because both sides,
05:51especially the NDA,
05:53is doing what it takes,
05:54not just to rally its forces,
05:56but also to make sure they're able to pull in
05:59a few MPs from the opposite camp,
06:02which will give them bragging rights
06:04right before Bihar elections.
06:05And well,
06:06the NDA also,
06:08the Opposition Alliance trying to do the same.
06:11Right now,
06:12viewers,
06:13before I go across to Piyush,
06:14I want to give you an understanding
06:15on what's going on in either camps.
06:17Lots of floor management already taking place.
06:19You have the top leadership of the BJP,
06:22hosting MPs from,
06:24that have come in to vote from across the country.
06:27To give you an example,
06:28all Uttar Pradesh MPs
06:30who represent Uttar Pradesh,
06:32Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs
06:34are right now at a breakfast meeting
06:36at Piyush Goyal's residence.
06:38To give you more numbers,
06:39Southern States,
06:40Pralaj Joshi's residence,
06:41Madhya Pradesh,
06:42Chhattisgarh,
06:43Shivraj Singh Chauhan's residence,
06:44North India,
06:45Jammu Kashmir,
06:46Himachal Uttarakhand,
06:47at ML Qatar's residence,
06:49Rajasthan,
06:50Arjun Megwal's residence,
06:51Gujarat,
06:52Mansuk Mandavia's residence,
06:53Bihar and Jharkhand,
06:54Nithyanandrai's residence.
06:56So, where the NDA is concerned,
06:58they are rallying their forces.
07:00They have also taken a workshop on how to vote,
07:02but bringing in Piyush.
07:03Piyush,
07:04take us through the day's development,
07:06the protocol,
07:07the procedure,
07:08the Electoral College,
07:09comprising of Lok Sabha MPs,
07:11Rajya Sabha MPs,
07:12all set to vote,
07:14but it will come down,
07:15Piyush,
07:16on who is able to break the other camp,
07:20draw in a few MPs and cross vote,
07:23because the numbers will tell who has actually lost MPs in terms in favour of the other camp,
07:31and that will give that camp massive bragging rights.
07:34Absolutely,
07:37I directly mentioned that yes,
07:38either sides are trying their best to woo parliamentarians from the opposite camp.
07:44Remember that India Alliance is saying that there are few MPs in India who are going to vote in favour of the India Alliance candidate.
07:52On the other side,
07:53the India MPs,
07:54they have spoken to them,
07:55and they have come on record claiming that various MPs from opposition are in touch with them.
07:59So both are making tall claims.
08:01But if you talk about the numbers,
08:04you would like to rightly mention that yes,
08:06the numbers are 781,
08:08but we know that BJD and BRS have decided to abstain,
08:11which means the number comes down to 770,
08:14and then the magic figure comes down again from 391 to 386.
08:19So you need 386 in your favour.
08:22India has got 425 in its kitty.
08:25On the other side,
08:26the India Alliance is very less from majority mark.
08:31So there are number games.
08:33India has got the numbers.
08:35Now it remains to be seen,
08:37at one side,
08:38when VSRCP is voting for India candidate,
08:40will India Alliance be able to get few numbers from the,
08:43you know,
08:44NDA?
08:45So it's going to be very interesting.
08:46At 10am,
08:47the voting will begin.
08:48It will be,
08:49the Prime Minister is going to cast his vote,
08:51and soon after casting his vote,
08:52he will fly to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh,
08:54as he has to visit the flood affected areas.
08:57Right.
08:58And throughout the day,
08:59we will see voting taking place.
09:00Okay.
09:01And past 7pm most likely.
09:02All right.
09:03You know, Piyush,
09:04we are giving up the numbers there,
09:05and we'll break it down because,
09:06you know,
09:07there are certain political parties that decided to abstain.
09:09So that brings the strength of the electoral college down.
09:12But let's break it down viewers.
09:13Once again,
09:14I want to take,
09:15you know,
09:16for better understanding of viewers who are just joining us.
09:18The electoral college for the vice presidential elections
09:20comprises of MPs of Lok Sabha,
09:22and of Rajya Sabha.
09:23Lok Sabha,
09:24right now,
09:25the strength stands at 4,
09:26542.
09:28It was 543 minus one,
09:30because the West Bengal Bashir Hart MP has passed away.
09:33So that is 542.
09:34Lok Sabha,
09:35right now,
09:36the total strength,
09:37of course,
09:38stands at 228.
09:41There are six vacancies where Lok Sabha,
09:43where Rajya Sabha is concerned,
09:45where the seats are empty.
09:46Four coming in from Jammu and Kashmir,
09:48one from Punjab,
09:49and one from the passing away of Shibu Sarin.
09:53Now, that takes the total strength of the house.
09:55If you combine both of them to 781,
09:58the halfway mark viewers will be at 392.
10:02Now,
10:03where does it pan out?
10:05To give you the math,
10:06well,
10:07the NDA Alliance right now stands at 422.
10:11So that,
10:12or 445,
10:13that is with the others who have pledged support.
10:17But 422 on its own is where the NDA stands,
10:20and the India Alliance stands at 311.
10:24Mind you,
10:25halfway mark is 392.
10:27So the NDA is fairly comfortable on its own.
10:30It doesn't even need the others.
10:32That 445,
10:33you see,
10:34it doesn't quite need it.
10:35At 422 in itself,
10:36the NDA standing comfortably 31 votes over and above,
10:41than what the halfway mark is.
10:43On the other side,
10:44the India Alliance viewers right now stands at 311.
10:48You see 320 marks because that's the other.
10:51311 on its own,
10:53where the Opposition Alliance and the India Alliance is concerned,
10:56is about 80 short of that halfway mark.
11:00So that's a long fall for it to make.
11:02Now,
11:03there's that magic figure of 48,
11:04which are neither a part of the NDA and,
11:07or the Opposition Alliance.
11:09And those 48 MPs are the ones that you're seeing stacking up a little bit
11:13with the government,
11:14with 4,
11:15which is up to the MPs for the government to,
11:17for votes for the government of the NDA to 445 and to 320.
11:22But that figure of 48 also comprises of the MPs of the BRS,
11:27the MPs of the BJD,
11:28who have decided that they are not going to vote.
11:32They're going to abstain from voting.
11:34But having said that,
11:35there are a lot of smaller parties,
11:37a lot of individuals that make up the others 48,
11:40which neither fall on the India or the NDA divide,
11:44and all eyes will be on where they go.
11:47And,
11:48you know,
11:49those are the parties,
11:50independents that are being viewed.
11:51Some of them,
11:52which we'll also see a new today,
11:54viewers,
11:55and interesting visuals and optics will be coming through,
11:57because you'll have the likes of Rashid Engineer,
12:00who's in jail,
12:01coming in to vote.
12:02You'll have Amrit Pal,
12:03you know,
12:04coming in to vote.
12:05What happens to the likes of Swati Malewal?
12:08One coming in,
12:09that top BJP leadership has already spoken to her,
12:12and she would be voting in for the NDA.
12:15The likes of AIMIM,
12:17the lone MP,
12:19Asaduddin Ovesi,
12:20has decided to go with the India Alliance.
12:22So these are the others,
12:23the 48 others.
12:2448 others.
12:25But even if the India Alliance gets a sizable chunk of the 48,
12:30which looks rather improbable this morning,
12:32viewers, even then,
12:33it's way below the halfway majority.
12:37But,
12:38once again,
12:39let me tell you again,
12:40why does this all get a tad bit interesting,
12:43viewers,
12:44is because ultimately,
12:45how much does that number move?
12:47Does the,
12:48you know,
12:49NDA,
12:50which stands at 422,
12:51and if you add the others who have pledged support to 445 right now,
12:55moves up in terms of numbers.
12:56That would mean that it's been able to break the unity of the opposition.
13:00And that would be bragging rights right before Bihar elections,
13:03saying that your opposition,
13:04which is the Ghat Bandhan,
13:06is so weak and fractured,
13:07that some of them have actually voted for us.
13:09So,
13:10bragging rights there.
13:11The India Alliance is trying to pitch their campaign on the poll tent of democracy,
13:16secularism.
13:17Are they able to get any votes from the other side?
13:20What we do know,
13:21Revant Reddy,
13:22Chief Minister of the state of Telangana,
13:24has been camping in Delhi over the last 24 hours,
13:28and hoping some MPs would possibly come to the side of the India Alliance,
13:35on the basis of the Telugu,
13:37son of the soiled card.
13:39All of that,
13:40we're going to break it down.
13:41There's more news coming in.
13:42India Today has access.
13:43The Vice President voting line up.
13:45India,
13:46NDA and India bloc's big guns set for vote for the new VP election.
13:51Prime Minister Modi will be the first to cast his vote.
13:54We gave you an indication.
13:55The reason why is because the Prime Minister is going to go and visit flood-hit states of Himachal and Punjab.
14:05So, 10 a.m.
14:06We'll see the Prime Minister voting.
14:08Congress President Malik Arjun Karge was cast his vote shortly after at 10.15 a.m.
14:13LOP Rahul Gandhi to cast his vote after Karge.
14:16Mind you, Rahul Gandhi, who was on a vacation in Malaysia,
14:20is back and he'll be casting his ballot today as well.
14:23I want to quickly cut across to our guests.
14:25Lots of politicking also happening.
14:27And I'll give you some of the rumour-mongering which is going on.
14:30Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra,
14:33has been given the task of trying to persuade MPs from the Sharad Pawar faction
14:40and the Uddhav Thakre faction to maybe vote for the NDA Alliance.
14:45And having said that, both Sharad Pawar faction and Uddhav Thakre faction have come out and said that they are voting for the NDA Alliance.
14:53But will there be a break in that unity?
14:55We'll be keenly watched where Maharashtra is concerned.
14:58On the other side, lots of chatter on him and Sorain's party.
15:01Will there be a break where the three MPs, if I'm not wrong, of him and Sorain's party is concerned?
15:07And all of that will come down to a very, very interesting election because it's all in the numbers.
15:13It's all about bragging rights and isn't that what politics is about?
15:16So it's interesting. The end result might be a given, but the day is going to come up with hopefully lots of dramatic developments
15:24because that makes viewing and following that much more interesting.
15:28I want to cut across right now.
15:29Guest this morning, Sujata Paul, spokesperson, Congress, Rajat Sethi, political commentator.
15:34Sujata Paul, there is a train of thought which seems to suggest that this morning,
15:38while every big political leader of the BJP has been tasked to rally its forces in terms of all, you know,
15:47MPs coming in from Uttar Pradesh, Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha are meeting at Piyush Govel's residence.
15:53You have Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who's hosting all MPs coming in from Madhya Pradesh.
15:58You have Mansuk Mandavia hosting MPs coming from Gujarat this morning for breakfast, rallying their forces together.
16:05That seems to be completely amiss where the opposition is concerned.
16:10If you are hoping to get some people on your side, you're hoping that some will cross-vote
16:16because this time around viewers are also telling you there's no whip.
16:19So people can vote as and where they want to cast their ballot.
16:24The question also is, Sujata Paul, your leader of opposition could have possibly been in India over the last couple of days,
16:30trying to chart out a floor strategy, trying to, you know, break the NDA unity and get some MPs to your fold.
16:40But that's not quite happening.
16:42The Congress party is a very large party and there is democracy in our party.
16:47We don't have dictatorial democracy which exists in the BJP and starts from one person and ends there.
16:54So having said that, it is important to understand that this election signifies a lot of things because the vice president is for the people of India.
17:04So when people are voting, when the parliamentarians vote, they are going to be voting for the soul of India and to save the democracy and constitution of this nation.
17:15And we have seen how the BJP has been attacking the India alliance candidate, Mr. Sudarshan Reddy, which is really sad because,
17:24and you might not have seen this coming from the India alliance.
17:28We have not attacked anybody.
17:30But this clearly shows the Charles Charitra Chehra of the BJP.
17:34And today, ideologies might separate us.
17:37But the fact that there are dreams of people, aspirations of people that require a person who is right, who is up front, who should be there.
17:50And, of course, the person coming from the...
17:52So, Jadapal, allow me to circle back with you.
17:53You're giving out on how this is a fight for somebody who is upright and anyone who believes in democracy and secularism will vote for your candidate.
18:02But a lot more needs to be done than just an emotional appeal on television.
18:06You know, a lot of floor management is involved.
18:08And that seemingly is missing right now.
18:10You know, I could be completely wrong.
18:12But the optics seem to be missing there.
18:14And I'll circle back to you.
18:15Rajat Sethi, I want to bring you in, because if that number moves up today from what seemingly is the NDA standing at 422, which is up to 444,
18:24because there are some other parties which have offered and have pledged support.
18:29But if that number moves up, the NDA, by the end of day, gets, even though they're going to win the election, either way,
18:36will have bragging rights right before Bihar election, saying that you keep talking about the unity in the Ghatbandhan.
18:43See, there's a crack.
18:44So good morning, Preeti Ji.
18:47Before I answer your question, it was rather interesting to observe the comments of the Congress Party spokesperson.
18:54She was already conceding defeat in a way that, you know, we are not bound by the VIPS
19:00and we are bound by the democratic ethics of the Congress Party, quote, unquote,
19:04where she was trying to highlight that, you know, people are essentially free.
19:09So she's anticipating that the number from within the Congress Party or from within the India Alliance is actually going to come down.
19:15See, the problem is consistent over the last 10 years.
19:19There have been many such elections where the end result is largely a given.
19:23But even through the process, we don't see Congress Party putting up a fight.
19:27You know, just making a statement when there are party spokespersons like there are a few of those spokespersons who have been, you know,
19:37the Prime Minister Modi only has six, seven months.
19:40Let us even go by their logic.
19:42What have they done on the ground to actually build up the momentum for those six to eight months
19:47that when they claim the Prime Minister will have to leave the chair and will have to leave because there is a lot of internal resistance.
19:53All these cooked up stories and when push comes to shove, their key leader is sitting in Malaysia.
19:59This is their poor preparedness around elections which are so important because there is a parallel shadow boxing which is going around for every single vote.
20:07It is a secret ballot and you will therefore not come to know exactly who voted in your favor and who did not.
20:13And all the more reason that since this is a given election, the result is largely a done deal.
20:19You will see a lot of members of Parliament who will jump ranks and come out of the India Alliance and vote for the NDA.
20:26What have you done in the preparatory process to ensure that it doesn't happen?
20:30The reason is that you do not take these elections seriously and then you only whine every five years that, you know,
20:36the democracy was taken away and like all the rights and ethics and all of those.
20:40All those typical, you know, sob story that you will see after every election.
20:44This election also you will see the very...
20:46Alright, I want to welcome Charu Pragya as well. Good morning, Charu Pragya.
20:49I just want to come back to you because I think Sujata Paul wants to, you know, come in for a rebuttal.
20:54Sujata Paul, quick 20-second rebuttal. Allow me to bring in Charu Pragya after that.
20:57First point, clearly the political analyst does not understand what I am saying
21:03and he has clearly shown what the BJP is trying to do, that is attack Rahul Gandhi.
21:08Of course, the Prime Minister should have been in Manipur when he was required to be there.
21:11As far as the Punjab floods are concerned, he is going there today.
21:14But we have seen Shivraj Johanji going there and blaming illegal mining.
21:18And there are so many other instances.
21:21But he has also admitted that NDA is going to be indulging in trying to ask, get people to vote for them.
21:29And you clearly said that we are not making...
21:31But aren't you doing that?
21:32One second, Sujata Paul, allow me to circle back.
21:35I'll come back to you. But aren't you doing exactly that?
21:38Aren't you also asking your opposition, which is the NDA, to vote for your candidate on the basis of what you feel are democratic values?
21:46This is what politics is about, ma'am.
21:48So, you know, the NDA is doing exactly what you are doing.
21:51You know, they are appealing to what they say is a nationalist...
21:55In the morning, you had CP Radhakrishnan who says that in the end, this victory will be the victory of nationalism.
22:00So, that's their pitch. And that's politics, ma'am. That's all fair, right?
22:03No, no, no, no. See, there is a difference.
22:06When we are talking about our candidate, what are we saying?
22:10We are talking about saving the soul of the nation and Mr Radhakrishnan has every right to appeal to the parliamentarians.
22:15I'm not saying that.
22:16What the political analyst just said was that we are not going to be able to keep our people in our fold.
22:22What do you mean?
22:23At this point, there is no whip.
22:25So, we can appeal to people and let it be fair and just.
22:28That is what the BJP does not want to do.
22:30Alright, so, okay, one thing.
22:31Okay, viewers.
22:32The fact is, I want to bring in Charu Pragya, but there is no whip for people and viewers who are just joining us.
22:36A very good morning.
22:37There is no whip.
22:38It's a secret ballot.
22:39It will happen in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
22:41There is a presiding officer, the Rajya Sabha Secretary General.
22:44It starts from 10 a.m. this morning.
22:46It finishes at about 5 p.m.
22:47The first person to vote will be the Prime Minister before he leaves for Himachal Pradesh and Punjab,
22:52because he's touring the states for flood relief.
22:54On the other hand, counting will begin at 6 p.m. in the evening.
22:59It's a paper ballot, so it's going to take a bit of time.
23:02There's 781 where the total strength of the Electoral College is concerned.
23:06By 7 p.m. we should have the name of the 14th new Vice President of the country.
23:11So just to give you the semantics of what we're going to witness in terms of protocol.
23:16But Charu Pragya, to bring you in on this, it's interesting because ultimately, you know, one might say that this is a boring election.
23:22You already have the numbers, which you do.
23:24And viewers, also a tidbit, never in the history of India has the incumbent candidate ever lost.
23:29The margin of that victory, Charu Pragya, I would reckon will be crucial to your party.
23:34You would hope to move beyond what you already have, which is 31 over the halfway mark, where you stand at 422.
23:40How much does that margin shift above that mark will be your victory?
23:45Triti, good morning to you. Good morning to my fellow co-panelists.
23:50And we are all keeping our eyes on the vice presidential election today to see how large the margin is going to be.
23:57You're absolutely right. The NDA candidate is going to win and win with thumping conviction.
24:03See, here the question is not how big or how sure an election is.
24:08The question is how serious we are about every single election.
24:12How seriously do we take the process leading up to a particular election?
24:16How united our house looks? How together our members of parliament are?
24:21And this has been reflected amply in the last couple of days.
24:25If you see yesterday, even when the workshop was being conducted, NDA stood united.
24:31Everybody attended the workshop. What is happening in the opposition bloc?
24:35Their bloc stands fractured. Their own alliance partners are probably going to be abstaining from voting.
24:40And then let's see the number of cross-voting which happens.
24:43We also have to note here that the leader of opposition, Rahul Gandhi, is missing in action.
24:49Yes, he wanted to take a vacation. But could this vacation not be before the election of the vice president or after?
24:56How many times is an MP or a person even expected to vote in their lifetimes?
25:02Once in five years for the national elections and for a member of parliament to have the privilege and the honor of voting in an election such as this is very high.
25:12But of course, that's nothing new for Rahul Gandhi. Time and time again, we've seen him missing in action on very big...
25:17But he's here today, Charu Pragya. He's here today. He'll be casting his vote. You have a valid question?
25:21Yes, he will come back.
25:23Use that time. He could have used that time to rally his forces together.
25:27And importantly, if you want to raise that number and appeal to the conscience of other MPs because there's no whip, you could have appealed and done that.
25:34Go ahead, Ma, make your point.
25:35I'm speaking from a point of view where he's saying he's the leader of the opposition.
25:42I mean, he's sitting on that chair. He's supposed to be keeping people together.
25:45So that's one thing. And I think that when you choose the vice presidential candidate, it has to be done with conviction.
25:51It has to be done keeping in mind the person's administrative experience, political experience.
25:56The indie bloc couldn't even come up with a name in time.
25:59It was just, it seems like somebody's scrambling to find anybody, literally anybody at all and put the name down.
26:06All right. But, you know, Chudarshan Reddy has quite an illustrious career behind him, Charu Pragya.
26:10The sheer fact that after 20, you know, 2013, it was the BJP that wanted him elected as the Loka Yukt Goa.
26:16But I'll come back to that. I want to bring in Javed Ansari into this conversation.
26:20Javed Ansari, a very good morning. What does it look like to you for somebody who's covered parliament for many, many years, Javed?
26:27The numbers might be a given this morning, standing with the NDA, but I would reckon you'd think that it would be the developments over the course of the day in terms of cross-voting,
26:39how much the NDA takes up its number, how much the India Alliance or the opposition bolsters its numbers with possible cross-voting.
26:47The devil will be in the detail on who's actually gained ground.
26:52Look, Preeti, this is not an election that is likely to quicken the pulse.
26:58The only thing of academic interest is the numbers. How much does the BJP, will the NDA succeed in persuading an X amount of MPs from the opposition bloc to vote for them?
27:17The last time around, Vice President elections were held, Mr. Dhankar got 500 plus votes.
27:24Will the NDA be able to repeat that number or come any way close to that number?
27:30As it is, parties that had earlier supported the NDA in the previous elections have chosen to abstain, or at least they've announced that they will abstain.
27:43Mr. Bichu Patnaik's BJD and the BRS have said that they will abstain, they will not participate in this election.
27:51So these were plus votes. They haven't gone against them, but this will certainly not add up to the BJP's tally.
28:00So as an observer, as a student of political science, I'd be very keen on knowing, has the BJP succeeded at all in persuading some of their sleeper cells to come and start?
28:16As somebody, an opposition leader told me last night, have they activated the sleeper cells and have they got them to put their neck out and vote for their candidate?
28:28Or is it business as usual? There was a lot of talk earlier that Chandra Babu and Nithish, I don't think this is happening. This is a red D factor.
28:39A lot of people forget. Like you said, the devil is in the detail. The detail is that the opposition candidate is a red D.
28:46The TDP, the vote bank is largely, these two sides never largely refrain from voting from each other.
28:55So therefore, by not supporting Mr. Reddy, the TDP is unlikely to lose out much of their vote because their vote is intact.
29:05The Reddy's either which way don't vote in large numbers for them.
29:08Alright, you know, because it's, it's, but the fact is, Chandra Babu Naidu and Sudarshan Reddy are good friends, is what we've been given to understand.
29:16Something that was also discussed at the India Today conclave, Andhra Pradesh, where Minister Nara Lokesh reaffirmed, though,
29:22his party's commitment to the BJP-led NDA, declaring that it will continue to offer unconditional support to the NDA candidate CP Radha Krishnan,
29:30despite Sudarshan Reddy being Telugu and also somebody that the family has known.
29:43Is your party going to vote for Mr. Reddy, keeping in mind the Telugu factor, or are you going to stick with the NDA candidate Mr. Radha Krishnan?
29:55Telugu Theism party has joined the India unconditionally, continues to support NDA unconditionally.
30:01We believe that right time, right place, right leader makes all the difference.
30:06We believe in the leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister.
30:09So, it could be the Vice President election or various other elections.
30:13Our support is very clear, we're going to support the candidate of the NDA.
30:17Two, after the NDA announced the candidate, myself along with all my MPs,
30:24which we went and wished CPR sir.
30:26So, they knew that we are supporting CPR, Garu.
30:30The support is quite clear.
30:32And they played politics with it.
30:33And we are not going to succumb to such politics.
30:35You're saying they played politics with it.
30:37CPR is from this part of the world, from Tamil Nadu.
30:41And you've got Sudhakar Reddy, who is someone born in what is now Telangana,
30:46but is being projected as a symbol of Telugu pride.
30:51So, what happens to the Telugu pride?
30:53This is a vote which individual MPs can take.
30:55You don't have a party whip.
30:57What if some of your MPs decide, no, Telugu pride matters more than anything else?
31:02Is there a Telugu pride factor in the Vice President candidate being someone who is a Telugu bidda?
31:08No, Bharat first.
31:10Bharat first.
31:11Bharat first.
31:12Bharat first.
31:13That's been our agenda.
31:14We are quite clear on it.
31:16It's important that we continue to support the leadership that can take, lead India from the front.
31:24We believe that that is the Honorable Prime Minister.
31:26We support his leadership 100%, undisputed.
31:31So, we are not going to get distracted by a Vice President elections in that sense.
31:38All right.
31:39So, there you have it.
31:40Nara Lokesh, Telecom Minister and Education Minister of the State of Telangana.
31:46Very, very clear that he is and his party supports the Vice Presidential candidate, which is the NDA pick.
31:55So, Jata Paul, I want to bring you in.
31:57You have Mr. Ravant Reddy who has been camping here over the last 24 hours in Delhi trying to persuade some of the MPs to come in and at least vote in on the basis of a son of a soil, Sudarshan Reddy, you know, Telugu antecedents to vote for your candidate.
32:15And that hasn't quite cut any ice, leave alone the TDP, even the BRS is deciding to abstain.
32:20The BRS could have gone ahead and voted at least for your candidate.
32:23That's also not quite happening.
32:25The BRS was with the NDA earlier in the last election.
32:30So, if you are talking about Mr. Reddy and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, of course, people are going to listen to the, you know, to the voice of their conscience and vote.
32:43And as far as appealing is concerned or talking to people is concerned, everybody is free to vote for who they want.
32:49But it is very, very clear that today when we are talking about this election, the BJP spokesperson has just said on your show that there will be cross voting.
32:57Is she trying to say that when there is no way you're talking about cross voting?
33:01Are you trying to pull people from the other side even if they want to vote for Mr. Sudarshan Reddy?
33:07So, that is a question that she needs to answer.
33:10But the state of politics is such that in an election where there should be complete fairness because, like I said earlier, this is for the people of the nation because this is the vice presidential election.
33:22This is not merely for the BJP or the India Alliance or the NDA.
33:29I think all of us need to go out there and try to appeal to people on what plank we are placing our candidate, why we are fighting this election.
33:40So, Jathapad, before I cut across to our other guests, I want to ask you a quick question.
33:43So, even though you used that you wanted to put forth, which is the opposition united together, a candidate that represents the state of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh there.
33:55But, look at the parties who are supporting you.
33:58The YSRCP is not supporting you.
34:00They are going with the NDA.
34:01The YSRCP sits in opposition right now in the state of Andhra Pradesh, yet they are voting for the NDA.
34:06The TDP you haven't broken.
34:08The BRS is abstaining.
34:11The only one lone MP you have from the area voting for you is going to be AIMIM, Mr. Asaduddin Ovesi.
34:18Certainly, these are, you know, news which we are hearing from you.
34:24But the fact is that this is an election where you and I will not know who they are going to be voting for.
34:32So, it is very clear that today, as far as the parties are concerned, Telangana will be at court.
34:37Fair point.
34:38I got it.
34:39Because what you are hoping, and fair enough, that even though they might have said that they are going to abstain or they are going to support a particular party,
34:44the MPs of that will look at, you know, what they feel is right, will answer to their conscience and not go because there is no whip and it's a secret ballot.
34:54That's what you are trying to say.
34:55I want to go back to Rajat Sethi and our other two panelists on the show.
34:58Rajat Sethi, you know, coming back to the numbers there.
35:02Do you think there is going to be, because, at least, and I am going into just political chatter,
35:07that there is an attempt to draw votes from the Uddhav Thakre camp, draw votes from the Sharad Pawar camp.
35:14Devendra Fadnavis has been given that, you know, responsibility.
35:18Then, of course, Mr. Heyman Sorain's party.
35:21Will those three MPs from Mr. Heyman Sorain parties, there's so much has been said in the last couple of days.
35:25Where will they vote?
35:30You're on mute, sir.
35:33Yeah, sorry.
35:34I was saying, Ptji, that conscience is a very wide window.
35:37Lot of things can jump in and out of that conscience window.
35:41I believe that if a conscience call is made to Uddhav Thakre camp and to Sharad Pawar camp, you will see results.
35:48And all the more, as I was mentioning, since the end result is a done deal,
35:52therefore it allows a lot of entrepreneurship among the members of parliament to, you know, to play one side or the other.
35:58And BJP has been on the game and they would be doing every bit.
36:02And all the more reason, because Congress Party just mentioned right now, that it is a call of the conscience.
36:07If the members of parliament in the India Alliance believe that it is their conscience and they'll come out and vote for the winning BP candidate,
36:14because, you know, everybody should rally around the winning candidate, then you will see switching happening.
36:19My problem is not this. My problem is that when you look at, you know, one candidate and you flag the credentials of him being a Telugu,
36:27why don't you flag the Tamil credentials of the other candidate and not make a similar sort of an emotional call to Stalin and say that,
36:34hey, you're going to see a Tamilian becoming the vice president of our country.
36:38Why don't you cross party ranks and come in and vote?
36:40The media did not ask Stalin this question at all through the entire election.
36:45You were always flagging the Telugu credentials of the India Alliance.
36:49This is unfair. But that's how the media is. You can't help it.
36:53My larger problem is that there is going to be a, there is a parallel game happening.
36:57The Congress Party clearly does not seem that their house is in order.
37:01They are good when it comes to, you know, making broad brush statements before the camera.
37:06They love doing that. They want to create this ruckus that, yes, within six months,
37:11Prime Minister is going to go without any basis.
37:13That's where, you know, I see huge difference between walking the talk from the Congress Party.
37:19Okay. All right. You know, but this is the first time.
37:22And it's a little awe-inspiring in all of this.
37:24This is the first time, you know, at least that the media has been questioned
37:27of not asking enough questions of the opposition,
37:29especially where the vice presidential elections is concerned.
37:32Because I think a lot of questions have been asked on the opposition.
37:35They could have used this as an opportunity to get somebody from Bihar.
37:38Because if it is a token nomination, then at least use it politically.
37:42But having said that, and there's lots of opinion on that. Some still support.
37:46Great idea to have somebody from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
37:49But, all right, let's get in. Reactions coming in thick and fast.
37:52We cut across to Javed Ansari, Shah Rupraga, in just about two minutes. Listen in.
37:56I think, why are you feeling this illegal?
38:00Do you know the local, our devotees are here.
38:02Where are you?
38:04What is your current law?
38:05It's not-in-law.
38:06The policy of the government should be done.
38:08I should put on the law.
38:10Why isn't this bad a system?
38:11Why do you know the law?
38:13The law is a issue.
38:15But at least it's my argument.
38:16Why should these laws come in?
38:18Thank you very much.
38:48Nipaksh is saying that you hear the sound of antaratma.
38:50What should you do today, Chunav?
38:52To save the nation's soul, who's who's antaratma is born?
38:56This will tell you.
38:58See what will happen, Chunav is not going to start.
39:18While I touched on the fact on why this election is happening, the curious case of Jagdeep Dhankar, you know, continues to beckon where on 21st of July, which is the first day of parliament you heard, Jagdeep Dhankar was stepping down on health reasons.
39:32You know, he hasn't spoken ever since and which mandated an election after a two year term of the former vice president, Jagdeep Dhankar.
39:41It's something that the opposition continues to use, even though they wanted an impeachment motion against Mr. Dhankar.
39:47Yeah, so it's not surprising.
39:49Political parties adopt positions depending on where they stand.
39:54They haven't certainly and they are well within their rights to raise this question because they are not extolling virtues in Mr. Dhankar, which didn't exist from the very first two.
40:05But they are certainly there.
40:06I mean, the country is entitled to know that where is Mr. Dhankar?
40:11What on earth has suddenly happened to Mr. Dhankar?
40:14He is very conspicuous by his silence.
40:17The usually loquacious Mr. Dhankar is very conspicuous by his silence.
40:22I mean, it doesn't come very naturally to him.
40:25He is not being seen in public.
40:27He is now moving to a private residence, which again is unusual.
40:31This transfer is seamless.
40:33Once your term ends or once a new successor is being sworn in, the government arrots an official Bangalore and you go and stay there.
40:42So that has not happened.
40:43So there's lots of speculation.
40:46I don't want to add to it.
40:48Some of it seems really far-fetched.
40:51But nonetheless, a lot of it, I mean, there are a lot of relevant questions that have been asked.
40:56Okay.
40:57If all is well, why isn't he being given access?
40:59Why aren't people allowed to go and meet him or why doesn't he speak to the media?
41:04Let him come out and say, there's no point in the home minister or some other minister of the government coming out and batting for him.
41:11Let Mr. Dhankar say what it is.
41:13And everybody will admit, I'm sure even the BJP will admit, this is rather unusual.
41:18It's never happened in the history of the country that somebody quits midway.
41:23All right.
41:24Well, what is Indian politics without a bit of speculation?
41:27And that's what adds the spice to it, isn't it?
41:29That, you know, I'm going to, okay, let's just make it fun because we've, you know, given your party points, your perspective.
41:35But who are you going to watch today?
41:37Because there was somebody in the newsroom who said that I want to know where Shashi Tharoor is going to vote today.
41:41It's a secret ballot, so you'd never quite know.
41:43But there are others who are going to come in.
41:45Independents like Mr. Rashid, the, you know, engineer who's been in jail, who's going to come in to vote.
41:50You have Amrit Pal, who's in jail, will come in to vote.
41:53Swati Malewal, what seems to suggest, is going the NDA way.
41:56The 48, Charu Pragya, become all the more important because clearly on your own, you're well above at least 30 votes more, you know, at a place of what you need for the halfway mark.
42:08But the 48, which neither fall in the NDA camp or the India camp, some of them have decided to abstain like BJD and BRS.
42:16But the others are going to be wooed today.
42:18So, Priti, you know, tongue in cheek, I want to go back to the word which the opposition is repeatedly using.
42:25Antar Yatma.
42:26And how funny is that, you know, every time, you know, you're standing on a sticky wicket, you start talking about the inner voice and do what is good for the country.
42:37And wherein, and I stress on this again, when you had the opportunity to do one of two things, one, show unity in your camp and to do a tokenism which at least speaks for the way your mind is working unitedly together for these elections.
42:52They've failed on both counts.
42:54They've failed on both.
42:55So, it really doesn't matter to them where each vote goes, wherein NDA has shown credibly and time and time again that we work for every single vote which comes our way.
43:05So, yeah, why not?
43:06So, all of the independents should hopefully be listening to their Antar Yatma and voting for the NDA candidate.
43:12All right.
43:13Well, like I said, Antar Yatma usually is awakened during the time of polls.
43:17But, you know, I'm going to do a quick snap poll on this and then I'm going to go into a break.
43:20We need to close this bulletin.
43:21Let's begin with you, Sujata Paul.
43:22Who are you going to be watching keenly today?
43:24Who's conscious are you thinking will maybe decide to vote the other way?
43:30Clearly, as far as the parliamentarians are concerned, what happened to Mr. Dhankar is going to be…
43:39Okay.
43:40Give one name.
43:41We have to go into a break.
43:42Snap poll.
43:43Name.
43:44Certainly Mr. Sudarshan Reddy without a doubt.
43:47What?
43:48He will vote for…
43:49But he's not voting ma'am.
43:50I'm saying who's going to vote the other way.
43:52No.
43:53I thought…
43:54Okay.
43:55Fine.
43:56You're saying he'll win.
43:57Fine.
43:58He'll win.
43:59Okay.
44:00Rajat Sethi, who are you going to be watching closely today?
44:01Okay.
44:02News break coming in.
44:03You have Mr. Pradaj Joshi hinting at cross-voting in opposition ranks.
44:08It's already started.
44:09I'm telling you, I told you it's going to get very interesting.
44:11The numbers might be given in terms of where the NDA stands, but the devil will be in the detail.
44:17What will be the margin of victory?
44:18How much?
44:19Who will gain?
44:20Who will lose?
44:21All right.
44:22Okay.
44:23I want to get in Rajat Sethi.
44:24Rajat Sethi, quick.
44:25Who are you going to look at today?
44:267 PM window where you will declare the final results.
44:30I think that is what will matter.
44:31Everything else is just shattered.
44:32We'll see the final numbers at that time.
44:34I thought you'd say Shashi Tharoor.
44:36Okay.
44:37I'm going to bring in.
44:38What's the point of seeing his face?
44:39Okay.
44:40I'll come back to you.
44:41Snap pull.
44:42Snap pull.
44:43I need to go into a break.
44:44Javed, quick.
44:45One name.
44:46Well, I'd be keeping my eyes out for some of Mr. Amit Shah's aides.
44:51The ones who do his political work behind the scenes.
44:54They are the ones who do all the wheeling and bringing in and bringing out MPs.
44:58I don't want to name them.
44:59I know a couple of them personally.
45:02So, therefore, my eyes will be firmly on them.
45:06Alright.
45:07Your eyes will firmly be on them.
45:08Charu Pragya, you know, I'm going to give you 10 seconds to make your point.
45:12Because then we're going to dip in and listen in to your own minister, Mr. Pralaj Joshi.
45:15But quick, make your say, sir.
45:16Ma'am, go ahead.
45:17I'm going to keep my eyes out on the indie block and then the various fragments of that.
45:22Let's see which way most of them go.
45:24Because I think the numbers are going to be far worse than what the opposition block expects.
45:29Alright.
45:30Well, today conscious is going to be very subjective, isn't it?
45:32Where Antaratma comes into play.
45:33We're going to leave it at that.
45:34But listen in to union minister who's predicting a humiliating loss for the opposition.
45:40You have Pralaj Joshi hinting at cross-voting in opposition ranks.
45:43Quickly listen in and then we go into a break.
45:45If Congress is honestly calling, then Congress will be very bad.
45:46Because if it's not a wisely decision, they can't give up.
45:50The Congress party is very discontent with candidates.
45:52But anyhow, let us, I don't want to go into that detail.
45:56We are very, very confident we will be in a thumping majority.
46:13Paral kasan
46:14?
46:17.
46:20,
46:22.
46:28,