BRS, BJD to abstain from voting in vice presidential elections on September 9

INDIA Bloc V-P candidate Justice (retired) B Sudershan Reddy (left) and NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan with PM Modi

BRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Monday said his party would abstain from the Vice Presidential election on September 9 as an expression of "anguish" felt by Telangana's farmers due to the shortage of urea in the state.

Odisha's principal opposition party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on Monday also announced that its MPs will abstain from voting in the September 9 vice presidential elections.

BRS leader KT Rama Rao alleged that both the Congress and BJP have "failed" to address the issue of shortage of urea in Telangana, which has led to scuffles among farmers waiting in queues. "We are abstaining. We are not going to participate," Rama Rao told reporters.

Biju Janata Dal, headed by former chief minister Naveen Patnaik, said it took the decision as part of its policy of "maintaining an equal distance" from both the BJP-led NDA and Congress-led INDIA bloc at the national level.

The BRS could have exercised the option of NOTA had it been available in the Vice Presidential election, the former BRS minister KT Rama Rao said.

According to Rama Rao, his party has nothing against the two candidates in the Vice Presidential election -- NDA's CP Radhakrishnan and Opposition's B Sudershan Reddy.

Acknowledging that both may have been good candidates, he, however, said they represent the BJP and the INDIA bloc respectively.

He alleged that neither the Congress government in the state nor the NDA government at the Centre has responded to the urea shortage, despite the crisis.

BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to abstain from the VP election after consultations with party's Rajya Sabha members and other party leaders, he said. The BRS has no representation in Lok Sabha, but it has four MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

Meanwhile, BJD MP Sasmit Patra told news agency PTI, "BJD president Naveen Patnaik has decided that the party's MPs will abstain from voting in the vice presidential elections. He took the decision after consulting senior party leaders, members of the political affairs committee (PAC) and lawmakers,"

Patra said that the BJD maintains an equal distance from both the NDA and the INDIA bloc.

"Our entire focus is on the development of the state and its 4.5 crore people," Patra said.

The vice presidential polls will be held on Tuesday.

Reacting to the development, both Congress and the BJP said that the BJD's decision will indirectly help the NDA candidate for the vice president's post.

Welcoming BJD's decision, senior BJP leader and Union minister Jual Oram said, "By deciding that BJD MPs will abstain from voting, Naveen Babu has indirectly supported the NDA candidate." The saffron party's Bargarh MP, Pradeep Purohit, echoed Oram in saying that the BJD's decision will benefit the NDA candidate.

"They have not opposed our candidate," he said.

The lone Congress MP from Odisha, Saptagiri Ulaka, said, "We hope Naveen Babu will reconsider his party's decision. The INDIA bloc candidate, B Sudershan Reddy, is not a Congress leader. He is an eminent jurist who is being supported by the grand old party and others. If BJD MPs vote for him, that will not impact the regional party's policy of maintaining equidistance. There is still time to reconsider." Ulaka said it appears that Patnaik no more has any control over his party, "which was evident" during the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

"Some BJD MPs supported the Bill, one abstained, and one opposed it. This indicates that Naveen Babu does not have any control over his party now," the Congress MP alleged.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das said, "Abstaining from voting means supporting the BJP... this was an opportunity for the BJD to prove that it is opposed to the saffron camp." Das said BJD, through its decision to abstain from voting, extends "tacit support" to the BJP-led NDA's candidate, C P Radhakrishnan.

"With this decision, Naveen Patnaik has once again proved that BJD and BJP are one. We have been saying that Congress, and not BJD, is the real opposition in Odisha," he said.

BJD MPs in 2012 had also abstained from voting in the vice presidential elections.

BJD has only seven MPs in the Rajya Sabha and none in Lok Sabha. The MPs of both Houses have the voting rights in the vice president elections.

NDA has 293 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 129 members in the Rajya Sabha and commands a clear majority.

The vice presidential elections are being held after the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post on July 21.

With inputs from PTI