The upcoming Vice Presidential election has intensified the political climate. This election usually proceeds as a quiet constitutional procedure. The BJP-led NDA coalition nominated CP Radhakrishnan, a senior party leader and the Governor of Maharashtra, for the election. The opposition put forward Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, setting up a ‘South vs. South’ contest. Radhakrishnan represents Tamil Nadu, and Sudarshan Reddy is from Andhra Pradesh. The question now is who will be victorious in this exciting contest?
Reviewing past Vice Presidential elections reveals that the ruling party at the center has often achieved substantial victories. Since the BJP came to power in 2014, Jagdeep Dhankhar secured the largest victory. He won by a record margin against the opposition leader Margaret Alva, which was the biggest defeat for any opposition leader since 1997. Moreover, since India’s independence, four Vice Presidents have been elected without any opposition.