"Confident we will win with thumping majority": Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on VP elections

He further claimed that there is lot of "dissatisfaction" within the Congress party over their candidate B Sudershan Reddy.

Speaking to reporters, Joshi said, "If Congress is making an honest call to choose wisely, then their candidate will lose with bigger numbers. If one needs to make a wise decision, they cannot be voted for. There is a grave discontent within the Congress party over their candidate...We are very confident that we will win with thumping majority."

Janata Dal United (JDU) MP Lovely Anand also expressed confidence in the NDA's victory saying that there is no better candidate than CP Radhakrishnan for the post of Vice-President.

She said, "NDA will win...There is no better candidate than him...We are going to vote for the NDA candidate; everyone is united. He will win..."

BJP MP Kiran Choudhry also exuded confidence for the NDA's victory and praised the NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan.

"We can clearly see what is going to happen...CP Radhakrishnan is going to be the Vice President. He is a very capable man. He has served the nation. With his election, the Vice President's post will be honoured..." Choudhry told ANI.

The voting for the 15th Vice Presidential election began on Tuesday morning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi exercising his franchise along with other prominent ministers and MPs.

NDA's CP Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy are contesting against each other in a high-stakes contest. The counting of votes will also take place in the evening today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first to cast his vote.

The election comes 50 days after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from his post as the Vice President on July 21, citing health reasons.

The stage is set for a contest between Radhakrishnan and retired Supreme Court Judge B Sudershan Reddy, who has been named as the joint opposition candidate for the Vice President's post.

Both the BJP-led NDA and opposition parties held mock polls ahead of the crucial day earlier, telling the MPs to be cautious in exercising their franchise lest their vote be invalid.

It seems that NDA's candidate CP Radhakrishnan has an edge with 427 MPs, well above the majority mark of 391, supporting him for the post. In the Lok Sabha, Radhakrishnan is expected to receive 293 votes, and 134 votes are likely to be cast in his favour in the Rajya Sabha.

Joint opposition candidate Reddy is backed by 354 MPs, with 249 in the lower house and 105 in the upper house of the Parliament.

Currently, the Parliament comprises 781 members, including 542 in the Lok Sabha with one seat vacant and 239 in the Rajya Sabha with five seats vacant.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) decided to abstain from voting in the Vice Presidential elections. Meanwhile, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will not take part in the Vice Presidential poll.

Moreover, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) announced that it will "boycott" the Vice Presidential election, given that people in Punjab are "upset and angry" over no help from the central or state government. (ANI)