Oppn MPs also voted for Radhakrishnan listening to their conscience: BJP

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday hailed NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan’s election as the 15th Vice President of India and said the poll outcome was an indication of his wider acceptance as several MPs from the opposition camp also voted for him after "listening to their conscience”.

Radhakrishnan secured 452 votes against the joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy's 300, winning the contest with a bigger-than-expected margin, indicating cross-voting from the rival camp.

Expressing gratitude towards all those who voted for Radhakrishnan, BJP chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Sanjay Jaiswal, said the NDA nominee won the vice presidential election by bagging 452 votes because he received support from some opposition MPs also.

“About 40 MPs” belonging to the opposition camp supported the NDA’s vice presidential candidate Radhakrishnan, “listening to their conscience”, he said.

“We express gratitude towards them also,” he told PTI Videos in the Parliament House Complex.

The BJP MP also hailed the prime minister’s leadership for the NDA’s decision to nominate Radhakrishnan for the vice presidential polls.

“Whatever decision is taken under the leadership of the prime minister is correct. That's why our (NDA) candidate (won)”, he said “Despite our strength of 427, we got 452 votes. This indicates that our candidate had wider acceptance,” the BJP leader added.

In an apparent reference to the votes which were declared invalid, Jaiswal said 15 MPs "deliberately" did not cast their votes properly.

“They may have done so because they neither wanted to go with the INDI alliance nor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” he added. PTI PK PK RT RT