The position of Indian Vice-President is modelled after that of the American Vice-President. Vice-President of India is the country’s second-highest post. Moreover, the office of the Vice President is mentioned in Article 63 of the Constitution of India. Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu is India’s incumbent Vice President and the ex- Officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He has been in office since August 11, 2017.
About Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu:
- Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu is a prominent politician in India who has been the country’s 13th and current Vice President since 2017.
- He formerly served in the Modi Cabinet as the minister for Housing and Urban Development and as the minister of Information and Broadcasting.
- He also served as the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- Previously, he served as Union Minister for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee administration.
How is the Vice President elected in India?
The Vice President of India is elected through an electoral college rather than directly. The election procedure is comparable to that of the President of India. However, the electoral college that chooses the President is not the same as the electoral college that chooses the Vice-President of India.
Significant distinction between the electoral college of the President and Vice President of India:
- Both elected and nominated representatives of both Houses of Parliament vote in the electoral college for Vice President. The electoral college does not include nominated members in presidential elections.
- States have no involvement in Vice President elections, whereas elected members of state legislative assemblies participate in the electoral college in presidential elections.
Recent events related to the Vice Presidential election, 2022:
- The Election Commission issued notification of the August 6 election for the next vice president recently, kicking off the process of candidates filing candidacy papers. The deadline for submitting nominations is July 19.
- Venkaiah Naidu’s term expires on August 10, and the incoming vice president takes office on August 11.
- The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), steered by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), holds a strong lead in the election, in which all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members, including those who have been nominated, are entitled to vote.
- The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) recently named West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee for the Vice Presidential elections.
- While Margaret Alva, the opposition’s candidate for vice-presidential election, filed her candidacy, she stated that winning and losing is part of life and that the opponent struggles to uphold the pillars of democracy, strengthen institutions, and for an India that belongs to “each and every one of us”.
Some interesting facts:
- The election is conducted in line with the proportional representation system, with a single transferable vote, and voting takes place by secret ballot.
- The EC had warned that there was no idea of open casting in the election, and revealing the vote to anybody under any conditions in the event of the election of the President and Vice-President is entirely unlawful. Adding that, political parties cannot give a whip to their MPs on the subject of voting.
- While the vice-presidential election is held at Parliament House, as opposed to the presidential election, which takes place in several locations, since elected members of parliament, not nominated members, participate in the electoral college.
- A candidate’s nomination document must be signed by a minimum of twenty electors as proposers and must be signed by a minimum of 20 additional electors as seconders. An elector can only sign up for one nomination document for a candidate, either as a proposer or a seconder.
- A candidate may file up to four nomination papers. The election security deposit is Rs. 15,000.
Some key facts about the nominated candidates:
Jagdeep Dhankar
- He is an Indian politician who held the office of governor of West Bengal.
- He was a Bharatiya Janata Party member before being elected as the governor of West Bengal.
- In his initial phase, Dhankhar focused on the Supreme Court of India since 1990. He also argued in several Indian High Courts.
- In addition to that, he also served as the President of the Rajasthan High Court Bar Association situated in Jaipur.
- In 2016, Dhankhar appeared in the Sutlej River water dispute and argued before the Indian Supreme Court on behalf of the state of Haryana.
Margaret Alva
- She is an Indian politician. Alva held the offices of the 23rd Governor of Gujarat, the 20th Governor of Rajasthan, the 17th Governor of Goa, and the 4th Governor of Uttarakhand from August 2013 till the conclusion of her term.
- She formerly held the position of Cabinet Minister.
- She held a prominent position in the Indian National Congress and represented as Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee before being named governor.
