India, Sept. 8 -- Voting is conducted by secret ballot and no party can issue a whip to its members, meaning individual MPs are free to vote and there is also scope for cross-voting

With just a day left for the vice-presidential election, fence-sitters like Odisha's BJD and Telangana's BRS who are expected to abstain as they want to remain equidistant from both the BJP-led NDA and the Opposition's INDIA bloc, are playing close to the heart. While the BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) seems to have officially stated its intent, there is no formal word as yet from the BJD (Biju Janata Dal).

The BRS reported announcement, citing alleged harassment by the Congress government in Telangana, is being seen as a setback for the opposition candidate-B...