Radhakrishnan sworn in as India's 15th Vice President amid NDA win

C.P. Radhakrishnan was sworn in as India's 15th Vice President on Friday, after securing a decisive victory in a parliamentary ballot earlier this week that underscored the ruling National Democratic Alliance's parliamentary strength and exposed strains within the opposition. The Maharashtra governor-turned-NDA nominee won 452 first preference votes to the opposition's B. Sudershan Reddy, who polled 300, in voting held on Tuesday in Parliament. The oath was administered by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 10.10 a.m.

A total of 767 lawmakers cast ballots in the secret preferential poll, officials said, of which 752 were valid and 15 were declared invalid. The halfway mark for victory fell to 377 valid votes. The NDA had a clear numerical advantage on paper, with 427 supporting MPs and an additional 11 lawmakers from the YSR Congress voting for the NDA candidate, officials and party sources noted.

The final tally surpassed the NDA's expected straight-line strength, prompting speculation about crossvoting from the opposition camp. Some party sources and observers said between about a dozen and 15 opposition MPs may have voted for Radhakrishnan, while other accounts...