Over 700 MPs exercise their franchise to elect next VP, a look through photos

New Delhi [India], September 9 (ANI): Over 700 members of Parliament, both from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha exercised their franchise on Tuesday to elect the next Vice President of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived at Parliament House right as voting started at 10 AM, was the first person to cast his vote. The counting of votes is set to happen at 6 PM in the same room the voting took place. The contest is between NDA nominee and Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan and joint Opposition candidate former Supreme Court judge Justice B Sudershan Reddy.
Leaders across party lines, from Union Ministers to Opposition leaders, took part, giving their choice for the VP candidate through paper ballot. Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Kiren Rijiju also cast their vote. Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, who was presiding over the upper house proceedings in the absence of the Vice President, also cast his vote among others.

From the Opposition's side, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Parliamentary party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, MPs Shashi Tharoor, Priyanka Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh cast their vote in the morning. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, among others also voted.

Jailed Baramulla MP, known as 'Engineer Rashid' got special permission from court to allow him to cast his vote.

A photo exhibition also adorned the walkways of Parliament, showcasing the oath taking of the previous 14 other vice presidents the country has had.
However, the elections did not see full participation from all the MPs, as some parties decided to abstain or boycott the elections altogether. Bharat Rashtri Samiti (BRS), having 4 Rajya Sabha MPs, decided to abstain from the elections, saying that they are going to support the Telangana farmers instead.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) from Punjab, having 1 MP in Lok Sabha, said that both the centre and state government has not properly helped the flood victims in the state, decided to boycott the election. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) from Odisha, having 7 Rajya Sabha MPs, has also decided to abstain.
NDA nominee CP Radhakrishnan is facing joint Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy.
The election comes 50 days after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from his post as the Vice President on July 21, citing health reasons. (ANI)