India is set to witness high-stakes vice-presidential polls on Monday. The election was necessitated by the abrupt resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, who relinquished the post citing health reasons. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA has fielded Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as its coalition candidate for the vice-presidential polls. His name was announced by BJP chief JP Nadda while addressing the media following the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting on August 18.
Former Supreme Court judge Sudershan Reddy is the opposition bloc INDIA's nominee. The announcement in this regard was made by the Congress party chief, Mallikarjun Kharge.
Voting for the crucial election will begin at 10 am and conclude at 5 pm, with all members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha comprising the electoral college. Counting of votes will begin at 6 pm the same day.
Vice president’s role in parliamentary system: Legislative and executive
The vice-president holds the second-highest constitutional position in India, with responsibilities in two main areas. Firstly, the vice president acts as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, where they oversee the proceedings and ensure that the house functions smoothly and respectfully. In this role, the vice-president must remain neutral. They do not vote on matters except to break a tie with a casting vote, since they are not an elected member of the Rajya Sabha.
Secondly, under Article 65 of the Constitution, the Vice-President can temporarily take over the duties of the President in case of a vacancy due to the latter’s death, resignation, removal or illness. This arrangement lasts for a maximum of six months, until a new President is elected. During this interim period, the vice-president does not carry out the functions of the Rajya Sabha Chairman. These responsibilities are instead handled by the Deputy Chairman.
Existing number game
At present, there are 239 Rajya Sabha MPs and 542 Lok Sabha MPs. All 781 members are eligible to vote in this election. However, this number has come down to 770, as two parties — the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi — have decided to abstain from voting.
K Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS has four members in the Rajya Sabha, while Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal has seven members in the upper house. Both parties don’t have any members in the Lok Sabha.
As of now, the NDA has 293 members in the Lok Sabha and 133 members in the Rajya Sabha. The overall number of lawmakers constitutes 426. This number is sufficient to elect an NDA-backed candidate as the vice president. Besides, cross-voting — like in Dhankhar's case — can further increase this number in NDA’s favour.
