How India’s Vice-President is elected and who votes in the election? All you need to know
Vice President Election: Less than two weeks after Jagdeep Dhankhar abruptly stepped down as the Vice President of India, citing health issues, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has begun the process to elect his successor, who will enjoy a full five-year term from the date of assuming office as the country’s second most important constitutional figure after the President.
Jagdeep Dhankhar had over two years left in his term when he tendered his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu on the evening of July 21 last month. Dhankhar had assumed office on August 11, 2022 replacing M Venkaiah Naidu.
How India elects the Vice-President?
Akin to the President of India, the Vice President is not directly elected by the people, but via an indirect election conducted by an electoral college which comprises of elected as well as nominated both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The MPs are not bound by any party whip.
The voting is held via a secret ballot, and employs the single transferable vote system of proportional representation to elect the Vice President of India.
Notably, the election process process for the VP differs from that of the President in two ways, first the states have no role in the VP elections, whereas elected MLAs of states are part of the electoral college that elects the President. In VP elections, only Parliament MPs are allowed to vote, not MLAs of states.
Secondly, nominated members are not part of the electoral college in Presidential elections, while all MPs (nominated and elected) can cast their vote in the VP elections.
Who can run for Vice President?
Any citizen of India, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, and at least 35 years of age, can run for the office of the Vice President of India, but his nomination must be subscribed by at least 20 electors as proposers and 20 electors as seconders. Additionally, he or she must not hold any office of profit.
There is no constitutional restriction on the number of Vice Presidential terms a citizen can serve, which means a former VP can legally contest in the next elections if he or she chooses. Former VPs, S Radhakrishnan (1952-1962) and Mohammad Hamid Ansari (2007-2017), served two consecutive terms in office.
Which party’s candidate will become the next VP?
The Vice-Presidential election is essentially a numbers game, which means a government which has majority in the Parliament can easily get their candidate elected as MPs usually vote on party of alliance lines. Currently, the two Houses have a combined strength of 786, including six vacancies, means a candidate would require 394 votes to be elected in case of a 100 percent turnout.
The ruling BJP-led NDA has 293 Lok Sabha MPs and 129 Rajya Sabha members, giving the ruling alliance a combined strength of 422 votes, which is well above the required number of votes to elect the new Vice President of India.
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