New Delhi, Aug 6: Election for the Vice President is going on as per the schedule. A fight between NDA nominee Jagdeep Dhankar and Opposition candidate Margaret Alva are on.
While the number jacks up in favour of the NDA candidate, Alva, a senior politician, has pitched for a conscious vote.
The voting has began in Parliament House complex and MPs are casting their ballots.
#JagdeepDhankhar vs #MargaretAlva: How the numbers stand | #VicePresidentialElections2022 https://t.co/z0toLABrcg
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) August 6, 2022
The Vice President is elected by an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting in such election is by secret ballot.
The voting by MPs of both the Houses started at 10 am and will continue till 5 pm.
The counting of votes will take place later in the day.
The Electoral College to elect a person to the office of the Vice President consists of all members of both Houses of Parliament.
The Vice President is not a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of a Legislature of any state.
If a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of a Legislature of any state is elected as Vice President, he is deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date he/she enters his office as Vice-President.
The BJP alone has 394 of 780 total votes in the electoral college of Vice President which places Dhankhar in comfortable position against his rival Alva.
Lack of unity among opposition partners has further hurt Alva’s prospects as Mamata Banerjee led AITC has announced to abstain from voting in the polls. The AITC has 36 MPs in both Houses of Parliament.
Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSRCP, Mayawati’s BSP and Naveen Patnaik’s BJD have once again announced support to the NDA candidate.
The former West Bengal Governor Dhankhar attended a meeting with the BJP MPs in Delhi where the preparations ahead of voting were made.
MPs fight great electoral battles to gain entry to the Temple of Democracy – our Parliament. Each of them is a hero, worthy of our respect. Each a unique voice, that deserves to be heard. I believe when these powerful voices are given expression, great things can be achieved ??
— Margaret Alva (@alva_margaret) August 5, 2022
This is what Alva said in her tweet.
The next Vice President will take oath on August 14, a day after incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidu’s term expires.
As per the rule, an election to fill a vacancy caused by the expiry of the term of office of the Vice President should be completed before the expiry of the term of the incumbent Vice President.
The Vice President is mandated by the constitution to act as the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
With Agency Inputs….
