The YSR Congress on Tuesday decided to vote against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the upcoming Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman's election.
Party leader and Rajya Sabha member V Vijaysai Reddy announced that the party will vote against Janta Dal-United (JD-U) MP Harivansh Narayan Singh, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA's candidate. The YSR Congress, the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, has two members in the upper House of Parliament.
Five Lok Sabha members of the YSR Congress have resigned to protest the Centre's refusal to accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh. The party had earlier backed NDA candidates in the presidential and vice presidential elections.
Candidates from the opposition include Tiruchi Siva of DMK, Vandana Chavan of NCP and nominated member KTS Tulsi. The post of the Deputy Chair of the Rajya Sabha has been empty since PJ Kurien retired in June.
BJP's allies include JD(U), Shiv Sena, Akali Dal. It also has the support of AIADMK, BJD and TRS. With these parties, they have 126 members in the Rajya Sabha. However, the NDA is not sure about the votes since many of its allies had abstained from voting in the NDA's favour during the recent no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha.
