India to select new Vice President
Polling to select the 14th Vice President of India will be held today.
Incumbent Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu’s five-year term will conclude on 11 August. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has put forward Jagdeep Dhankhar, former governor of the state of West Bengal, while the opposing United Progressive Alliance has nominated Margaret Alva, former Governor of the state of Rajasthan.
The electoral roll for the poll will be comprised of 245 members of the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Parliament) in addition to 12 nominated members and the 543 members of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament). Currently, eight upper house seats remain empty, including four from Jammu and Kashmir, one from Tripura, and three nominated seats. The election will be conducted through secret polling. Parties are disallowed from whipping votes on this matter.
Expect the NDA’s candidate—Jagdeep Dhankhar—to win the election, given the coalition’s majorities in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Expect also that this will enable the NDA to pass budget proposals (which require the Rajya Sabha’s approval) more easily, given the Vice President’s influence as the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
