Vice President election on Sept 9
No RS MPs from UT to cast vote for 2nd time
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Aug 1: For the second time in the Vice President election scheduled to be held on September 9, four Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir will not be able to cast their votes as the seats remained vacant since February 2021, first in the absence of Assembly and then for unknown reasons.
The Election Commission today announced that the 17th Vice Presidential election will be held on September 9. The notification for the election will be issued on August 7 and the last date for filing nomination papers will be August 21.
The polling, if required, shall take place in Room Number F-101, Vasudha, on the first floor of Parliament building on September 9 between 10 am and 5 pm. The results will be announced on the same day.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members comprised electoral college for the Vice President’s election.
While five Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir and lone MP from Ladakh will be eligible to cast the vote, there will be no Rajya Sabha members from J&K to vote for the Vice Presidential poll as all four seats from J&K remained vacant for last about four and a half years.
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Ghulam Ali Khatana is a nominated Rajya Sabha member and belongs to Jammu and Kashmir. The nominated members are eligible to cast their votes.
There are two Lok Sabha members each belonging to BJP and National Conference from Jammu and Kashmir while fifth MP is an Independent. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh (Udhampur-Doda) and Jugal Kishore Sharma (Jammu-Reasi) are from the BJP while Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi (Srinagar) and Mian Altaf Ahmed (Anantnag-Poonch-Rajouri) belong to National Conference. Engineer Rashid is an Independent Lok Sabha member from Baramulla seat.
The INDIA bloc has dropped hints of fielding a consensus candidate against the NDA. The NC is part of INDIA bloc and its strategy will be known when the candidates are announced.
Lone MP from Ladakh Mohd Hanifa Jan won the election last year as an Independent candidate but he is part and parcel of NC. Engineer Rashid’s decision will also be known only once he makes a statement.
Last election to four seats of Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir was held in February 2015 when the then BJP-PDP alliance won three seats and NC-Congress one. Fayaz Ahmad Mir and Nazir Ahmad Laway (both PDP), Shamsher Singh Manhas (BJP) and Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Chief Minister of J&K and then in Congress were elected. BJP’s Chander Mohan Sharma had lost the election.
All these four Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir completed their six years term in February 2021. Since then, there has been no elected MP from J&K in the Rajya Sabha in the absence of Assembly.
In 2015, PDP had 28 MLAs, BJP 26, National Conference 15, Congress 12, People’s Conference two and CPM and AIP one each. Rest were Independents.
Last Vice Presidential election was held on August 6, 2022 and in that poll also, there was no Rajya Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir.
Rajya Sabha election for four vacancies of Jammu and Kashmir couldn’t be held from February 2021 to October 2024 in the absence of Assembly whose members elect the Upper House MPs. However, Assembly elections were held in September-October 2024. There has been demand from ruling party and allies for immediate holding of elections to fill four vacancies of Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir.
As per the equation of seats in the Legislative Assembly, NC-Congress alliance can win three seats and the BJP one. As per the past practice, three notifications are issued for four seats of the Rajya Sabha seats in J&K including one for two seats and two separate notifications for one seat each.
PTI adds from New Delhi: The election for the post of Vice President will be held on September 9 and is set to be a keen contest with the Congress-led opposition likely to field a common candidate to take on the BJP-led NDA which has the numbers on its side.
The surprise resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21 was the first time an incumbent stepped down mid-term and did not seek a higher office. Dhankhar had over two years of tenure left at the time of his resignation.
Earlier, V V Giri and R Venkataraman had quit their offices mid-term, but both were contesting the Presidential election in 1969 and 1987 respectively.
Opposition leaders have said that they were likely to put up a common candidate for the Vice Presidential election.
The BJP is expected to prioritise organisational rootedness and political commitment over an excessive focus on experimentation that has at times made them look outside their own pool of talent, as was the case with Dhankhar in the 2022 polls.
The electoral college for the Vice Presidential election comprises 233 elected members of Rajya Sabha, 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha and 543 members of Lok Sabha.
There are five vacancies in Rajya Sabha and one in Lok Sabha, pegging the effective strength of the electoral college at 782.
The ruling NDA has a comfortable edge in the ensuing poll.
The 543-member Lok Sabha has one vacant seat — Basirhat in West Bengal — while there are five vacancies in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.
The effective strength of both the Houses together is 782 and the winning candidate will require 391 votes, considering that all eligible voters exercise their franchise.
In Lok Sabha, the BJP-led NDA enjoys the support of 293 of the 542 members. The ruling alliance has the support of 129 members in Rajya Sabha (effective strength 240), assuming that the nominated members vote in support of the NDA nominee.
The ruling alliance has the support of 422 members.
A person cannot be elected as the Vice President unless he is a citizen of India, has completed 35 years of age and is qualified for election as a member of Rajya Sabha.
A person is also not eligible if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or a State Government or any subordinate local authority.
Article 66 (1) of the Constitution provides that the Vice Presidential election shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot. In this system, the elector has to mark preferences against the names of the candidates.
The Vice President is the second highest Constitutional office in the country. He or she serves for a five-year term, but can continue to be in office, irrespective of the expiry of the term, until the successor assumes office.
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