C.P. Radhakrishnan elected new Vice-President of India

BJP-led NDA's candidate Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was on Tuesday elected as India's 15th Vice-President, defeating joint opposition candidate and former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy with a margin that was wider than estimated and pointed to possible cross-voting within the opposition camp.

Radhakrishnan, 67, secured 452 votes while Reddy, 79, polled 300, according to returning officer and Rajya Sabha secretary general PC Mody. The vote tally seemed to indicate that at least 15 opposition members voted for the NDA nominee, despite Congress claiming all 315 opposition MPs stood united in the vice-presidential polls.

Interestingly, the shortfall in the opposition's count - 15 - was the same as the number of votes declared "invalid". Sources said it was not possible to assert with surety if the invalid votes were all from the opposition, or some MPs had cross-voted.

The poll recorded a 98.2% turnout with 767 MPs voting. There were 752 valid votes and 15 deemed invalid. One postal ballot was cancelled as the MP declined to vote.

"I declare CP Radhakrishnan has been elected to the post of Vice-President of India, and the results will be communicated to the Election Commission," the RS secretary-general announced.