Abstentions Shape VP Election: BJD, BRS, Akali Dal Signal Autonomy
The vice-presidential election has not yet concluded, but the battle lines are already clear. With the NDA commanding a comfortable majority on paper, the outcome looks heavily tilted in favour of its candidate, C.P. Radhakrishnan. Yet, the most striking development so far is not who is voting, but who is choosing not to vote. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have all announced their decision to abstain, sending out messages that go beyond parliamentary arithmetic.
The numbers themselves leave little suspense. NDA’s tally, along with a few independents, gives its candidate a projected 432 votes, well past the halfway mark of 391. The INDIA bloc’s candidate, B. Sudarshan Reddy, is expected to draw around 324. Even if the undeclared MPs and nominated members tilt one way or another, the broad picture remains unchanged. But politics is not always about the scoreboard. In contests where the outcome is pre-decided, gestures like abstentions become more important than the votes cast.
For Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, abstention is a continuation of its long-standing strategy of maintaining equidistance from both NDA and INDIA. The message is that Odisha’s interests come first, and that alignment with Delhi’s power blocs is optional, not mandatory. In effect, the BJD signals that it will engage with the Centre on its own terms, preserving leverage with whichever side holds power in Delhi.
The BRS has framed its abstention around farmers’ distress in Telangana, citing shortages of urea and agrarian crises. By staying away from the poll, K. Chandrashekar Rao aims to turn a national election into a platform for amplifying local grievances. It is political theatre, but theatre with a purpose: to remind Delhi that ignoring Telangana’s farmers carries consequences, even in symbolic contests.
The Akali Dal, once a major player in national politics but now reduced to a smaller role, has linked its abstention to Punjab’s flood crisis and the Centre’s perceived lack of support. For the SAD, this is a way to stay politically relevant by projecting itself as the defender of Punjab’s interests, even if its parliamentary numbers are modest.
Taken together, these abstentions reveal a larger trend. Regional parties are increasingly asserting autonomy in national contests. By refusing to play along with either side, they highlight the federal tensions that shape Indian politics today. In a vice-presidential election where the result is largely predetermined, the silence of abstention has become louder than the noise of support.
