Voting for India’s vice presidential election is underway, with lawmakers choosing between the NDA’s nominee CP Radhakrishnan, the current Governor of Maharashtra, and the INDIA bloc’s candidate Justice B Sudershan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge. The election was necessitated by the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar. While the contest has drawn significant political attention, three parties have opted to boycott the poll, signaling discontent with both alliances as well as specific state-level issues.

The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has announced that its seven Rajya Sabha MPs will abstain, reaffirming its long-standing policy of maintaining equal distance from both the BJP-led NDA and the Congress-backed INDIA bloc. The BJD currently has no representation in the Lok Sabha.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), headed by K Chandrashekar Rao, has also boycotted the election, citing the government’s failure to address a severe shortage of urea fertilizer in Telangana. Party working president KT Rama Rao stated that the move was an expression of solidarity with the state’s 71 lakh farmers. The BRS holds four Rajya Sabha seats but has no MPs in the Lok Sabha.

In Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has abstained in protest over what it described as neglect from both the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government in dealing with unprecedented floods that devastated large portions of the state. SAD’s lone MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, reflected the party’s stance that Punjab’s farmers and families have been left to face the crisis without sufficient support.

The electoral college for the vice presidential election consists of 788 members, though the current effective strength is 781 due to vacant seats. This makes the majority mark 391 votes. Both the NDA and the INDIA bloc are rallying their MPs in an effort to secure the crucial win. The NDA has 293 members in the Lok Sabha and 129 in the Rajya Sabha, while the INDIA bloc commands the support of around 325 MPs.

With the abstentions from the BJD, BRS, and SAD, the numbers add an additional layer of unpredictability to the outcome. Political analysts suggest that while the NDA remains confident, the INDIA bloc has been gaining momentum. The results of the election will not only determine the next Vice President of India but may also shape the dynamics between the ruling and opposition alliances ahead of upcoming political battles.