NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast the first vote as polling opened at 10 am for the high-stakes Vice Presidential election. Voting will continue until 5 pm, with counting scheduled to begin at 6 pm.

The NDA's candidate, C P Radhakrishnan, is contesting against Justice (Retd) B Sudershan Reddy, the nominee of the Congress-led INDIA bloc.

The contest comes after Jagdeep Dhankhar unexpectedly resigned as vice-president on July 21, citing health reasons.

The total strength of the electoral college stands at 781 MPs, 542 from the Lok Sabha and 238 from the Rajya Sabha, with one Lok Sabha and six Rajya Sabha seats currently vacant. The majority mark is 391.

NDA has the backing of 425 MPs, including support from the YSR Congress Party (11 MPs), which is not formally part of the ND

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