Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand make it easy for BJP in presidential poll
NEW DELHI: The big victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have given the BJP an upper hand in the upcoming presidential election in July.
The BJP and its allies will still be short of a majority on their own. But the narrowed difference after Saturday’s results makes it easy for them to manage the additional numbers required to send a person of their choice to succeed Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In the vice-presidential polls in August, the ruling coalition is unlikely to face any challenge as it has a clear majority in the electoral college.
In the presidential election, 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs have the right to vote and the value of their votes differ. In the electoral college where the total value of votes is 10,98,882, the BJP-led NDA is now short by about 1 lakh – the votes they control have total value of about 4.5 lakh against the half-way mark of 5,49,441.
But the UP victory alone will now add over 60,000 points to its tally, while another 3,000-plus will come from Uttarakhand. It stands also to gain from the improved performance in Manipur, though there are some losses in Goa and Punjab. Overall, the addition to the NDA’s count will be about 75,000.
With the UP victory further boosting the political positioning of the Centre and the BJP, political sources said the Modi government will easily mop up the remaining votes by wooing parties such as the AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal and YSR Congress.
A resurgent BJP and the Modi government could also hit the prospect of the opposition parties aggressively coming together to put up a united face as many of them could now star t dithering. BJP’s uneasy ally Shiv Sena may also think twice whether to play tantrum in the presidential polls.
In the vice-presidential polls, though, the NDA has a comfortable majority in the electoral college – comprising members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but not of state assemblies. That means incumbent Mohammad Hamid Ansari will be replaced by an NDA nominee after the August polls.
The BJP and its allies will still be short of a majority on their own. But the narrowed difference after Saturday’s results makes it easy for them to manage the additional numbers required to send a person of their choice to succeed Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In the vice-presidential polls in August, the ruling coalition is unlikely to face any challenge as it has a clear majority in the electoral college.
In the presidential election, 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs have the right to vote and the value of their votes differ. In the electoral college where the total value of votes is 10,98,882, the BJP-led NDA is now short by about 1 lakh – the votes they control have total value of about 4.5 lakh against the half-way mark of 5,49,441.
But the UP victory alone will now add over 60,000 points to its tally, while another 3,000-plus will come from Uttarakhand. It stands also to gain from the improved performance in Manipur, though there are some losses in Goa and Punjab. Overall, the addition to the NDA’s count will be about 75,000.
With the UP victory further boosting the political positioning of the Centre and the BJP, political sources said the Modi government will easily mop up the remaining votes by wooing parties such as the AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal and YSR Congress.
A resurgent BJP and the Modi government could also hit the prospect of the opposition parties aggressively coming together to put up a united face as many of them could now star t dithering. BJP’s uneasy ally Shiv Sena may also think twice whether to play tantrum in the presidential polls.
In the vice-presidential polls, though, the NDA has a comfortable majority in the electoral college – comprising members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, but not of state assemblies. That means incumbent Mohammad Hamid Ansari will be replaced by an NDA nominee after the August polls.
