India, Sept. 9 -- The Congress has insisted that despite BJP-led NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan's win to become the next Vice President of India, it was just an "arithmetical victory" but "really both a moral and political defeat" for the ruling party.

Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh noted that the Opposition INDIA bloc's joint candidate, former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy, got 40% of the vote.

"In 2022, the Opposition had received 26% of the vote," he wrote on X after results of the vice-presidential elections came out.

In absolute numbers, though, of the valid votes counted, 452 MPs chose NDA's Radhakrishnan, whereas Reddy of the Congress-led INDIA bloc got 300. This number for Reddy was lower than expected ...