Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy on Tuesday alleged that three Congress MPs admitted to voting for the NDA candidate in the recently held Vice Presidential election at the behest of Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader Revanth Reddy.

“Three Congress MPs personally told me that they voted for the BJP in the Vice President elections at the instruction of Revanth Reddy. They even asked me to hold a press meet and disclose this to everyone,” Kaushik Reddy claimed.

He further alleged that the cross-voting went beyond just a few members. “When I called some of my Congress friends, they told me that 15 Congress MPs were sold out. Among them, all 8 Congress MPs from Telangana have also been sold out,” he said.

The allegations come amid continued speculation over cross-voting in the Vice Presidential polls that saw NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan secure a comfortable victory over the opposition’s nominee, Justice (Retd) B Sudershan Reddy.

Of the 781 MPs eligible to vote, 767 cast their ballots, of which 752 were declared valid.

CP Radhakrishnan got 452 votes, while B Sudershan Reddy got 300 votes.

Since the bloc had 315 MPs expected to back its candidate, the shortfall of 15 votes suggests that some opposition MPs either voted for the NDA candidate or deliberately spoiled their ballots — a case of cross-voting that has now become the focus of political controversy.

Congress MP Manish Tewari had earlier described the reports of cross-voting as “extremely serious” and demanded that each party in the INDIA bloc conduct a thorough investigation. BJP leaders, meanwhile, have claimed that the result reflected MPs “voting with conscience,” while others accused the opposition of internal dissent.

– Ends