Voting Underway to Elect Indian Vice President
The voting process for the Vice Presidential election is underway at the new Parliament building. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first among the members who cast his vote. Union Minister’s Rajnath Singh, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Jitendra Singh, Pralhad Joshi, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, JD (S) MP and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress MP Sonia Gandhi, DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav and JDU MP Sanjay Jha have also cast their votes. Besides, several other Members of Parliament are in a queue to cast their vote.
NDA nominee and Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan is contesting against the INDIA bloc’s nominee and former Supreme Court Judge B Sudershan Reddy in this election. The Vice President is elected by an electoral college, consisting of members from both Houses of Parliament. In the Vice Presidential election, a secret ballot system is followed, and each vote carries equal value. Members of the electoral college can vote according to their individual preference and are not bound by their party’s whip.
At present, the Lok Sabha has 542 members and the Rajya Sabha has 239 members, making a total electorate of 781. The majority mark required to win the election is 391. The voting will continue till 5 in the evening. Counting of votes will begin after 6:00 PM.
