Members of Parliament will elect the next Vice-President on August 5. The Election Commission on Thursday announced the date for election of the Vice-President. The notification for the election will be issued on July 4 and nominations can be submitted by July 18. The scrutiny will take place on July 19 and the last date for withdrawing from the electoral battle is July 21.
Announcing the schedule for the election, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said polling, if required, will take place on August 5 and counting on same day. In the Vice-President election, a candidate requires 20 proposers and 20 seconders, who should be Members of Parliament.
The term of the present incumbent Hamid Ansari, who has held the post for two consecutive terms, is coming to an end on August 10. The electoral college which elects the Vice-President, who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, consists of elected and nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and the lok Sabha. The total strength of the two Houses is 790, but there are some vacancies.
In the 545-member lok Sabha, the BJP has 281 members. The NDA-led by BJP has 338 members. In the 243-member Rajya Sabha, the BJP has 56 members, while the Congress with 59 is the single largest party. With its recent wins in the recent Assembly polls, the BJP is set to emerge as the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha next year and the NDA’s tally will be close to 100. It would, however, still be short of a majority in the upper house.
“Members of Parliament will use special pens for marking their choice,” Zaidi said. Votes marked with any other pen are liable to be rejected. The decision to use special pens is based on the recommendations made by a working group set up by the poll panel to suggest ways to avoid repeat of such disputes in future polls.
Following the ink controversy in Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana last year, the Election Commission has decided to use special pens for the electors to mark their votes in the July 17 presidential election and the vice-presidential polls.
The Chief Election Commissioner made it clear that no whip can be issued by political parties as the election is through a secret ballot. The ruling NDA, which has a majority in the lok Sabha and received support of parties such as the AIADMK and the BJD in the presidential polls, will find it easy to place its candidate as the next vice-president. Secretary General of Rajya Sabha Shumsher K Sheriff will be the returning officer for the election, Zaidi said.