When Oppn Ballots Become Modi's Valentine Cards

In politics, dear friends, what you see is almost never what is happening. The visible is theatre; the invisible is where the knives are sharpened. Think of a Bollywood melodrama — the villain’s voice thunders from off-screen while the camera lingers on the heroine’s face. Why? Because the director knows you’re not interested in the fellow speaking, but in the tears forming in the heroine’s eyes.

Indian politics works exactly the same way. You hear one speech, but the action is elsewhere. The difference is that the heroine here is usually a sulking neta, not worth any sympathy.

These days everyone is jabbering about hunger strikes in Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi’s endless whimpering, and Trump’s tariffs (as if they change the price of onions in Chandni Chowk). Meanwhile, the small matter of electing the Vice President of India is passing under the radar.

The last Vice President, Jagdish Dhankad, left the job faster than a Bollywood starlet leaves her first husband. Now two new names are on the ballot: Radhakrishnan, NDA’s man, and Sudarshan Reddy, the Opposition’s sacrificial goat.

The arithmetic is boringly clear. NDA has the numbers. Their candidate could sleepwalk into the post. But in politics, arithmetic is only half the syllabus — algebra and geometry show up in the exam when you least expect them. Remember 1974? Congress officially put up Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Indira Gandhi, with her genius for treachery, pulled a rabbit named V V Giri out of her pocket, called him “independent,” and told MPs to vote according to their conscience. Translation: “vote as I tell you.” Result? Reddy lost, Giri won, and Indira tightened her chokehold.

Could such a plot twist happen now? Not a chance. Modi runs the NDA like a regiment; no one dares sneeze without clearance. Allies know better than to play games — their survival depends on the next ministerial berth. So Radhakrishnan will win.

But here’s where it gets delicious. Winning with 423 guaranteed votes is ordinary. Winning with 450 because Opposition MPs quietly crossed the floor is extraordinary. Those “extra” votes will be Modi’s love letters, delivered by trembling hands. They will prove that even sworn enemies, when faced with Modi’s shadow, prefer to fold like cheap umbrellas.

And what will Modi do with such a victory? He will flex, of course. Bihar, Bengal, Tamil Nadu — all will get the message: resistance is futile. Even Mamata Di, who loves to roar, will suddenly feel the ground slipping beneath her feet. Don’t be surprised if Modi, flushed with confidence, decides to advance the general elections. Why wait for the scheduled wedding when the bride is already dressed?

Indira Gandhi once dissolved Parliament after a “minor” election and came back with a two-thirds majority. Modi knows the script, and he’s a better actor than most of his rivals.

So don’t laugh off this Vice-Presidential election as a small affair. The chair may be small, but it has to seat very large egos. The Vice President may not have much work, but the votes that put him there could redraw the map of Indian politics — and bruise a few backsides on the way.

Come tomorrow night, we’ll know if this was just another constitutional formality or the start of Modi’s next big tamasha.