<h1>Opposition leader downplays cross-voting in vice-presidential election, urges focus on governance failures and accountability issues</h1> A regional opposition party leader dismissed reports of cross-voting in the vice-presidential election as minor, saying attention should focus on longer-term governance issues - citing numbers such as recent tariffs, prolonged violence in a state, halted welfare funds for a state, absence of a Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and days since the prime minister last answered Parliament. The ruling alliance's candidate won with 452 votes against the opposition candidate's 300, exceeding expected margins and prompting rival claims of some opposition MPs voting for the winner and suggestions that several ballots were invalid.