BRS likely to abstain from voting in V-P poll

Hyderabad: Continuing its stand of not supporting any of the political groups like NDA or INDI Alliance at the national level, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) is likely to abstain from voting in the election of Vice-President of India.

According to sources, the BRS is likely to take a neutral stand in the election scheduled for September 9. The party leaders said that the leadership has taken a stand of not aligning with any alliance led by the national parties and had given issue-based support to the government keeping the Telangana interests in mind.

While the BJP has fielded Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, the Congress has nominated former Supreme Court judge Justice B Sudarshan Reddy.

The AIMIM is slated to support the INDI Alliance candidate. During the previous election of Vice-President, the BRS (then TRS) had pledged support to Margaret Alva of the Congress as the common candidate of the Opposition against Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The party had once supported the candidature of M Venkaiah Naidu from the NDA.

However, this time the party does not want to align with any other party. A senior party leader said BRS chief K Chadrashekar Rao may take a decision which will make it clear that the party is not with any of the alliance blocks.

The BRS has four votes in the Rajya Sabha and these are crucial numbers for electing the next Vice President.

During a recent press conference, while replying to a question on the support to the Vice-Presidential candidate, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said his party would extend support only to the party that ensures supply of 2 lakh metric tonnes of urea before September 9. “No alliance has approached us yet. But our decision will be taken solely in the interest of Telangana farmers. If the Congress CM nominates a candidate, we will oppose without hesitation,” he said. KTR reiterated that the BRS was not aligned with NDA or INDIA blocs. “We are an independent party. We have no bosses in Delhi. The people of Telangana are our only bosses,” he said.

KTR also accused the Congress of hypocrisy on social justice, pointing out that despite claiming affection for BCs, the party had not nominated a BC leader for the Vice-Presidential post. “If they were serious, they could have fielded intellectuals like Kancha Ilaiah or any eminent BC leader,” he remarked.

However, senior leader B Vinod Kumar told The Hans India that as of now no discussion has taken place on the election with the BRS chief. He said there was a lot of time left for the elections (September 9) and the party would take an appropriate decision at the right time.