With Jagdeep Dhankhar quitting as the vice president, the election to appoint his successor will have to be held “as soon as possible”.
According to Clause 2 of Article 68 of the Constitution, an election to fill a vacancy in the office of the vice president occurring due to his death, resignation or removal, or otherwise will be held “as soon as possible” after it becomes vacant.
The person elected to fill the vacancy will be entitled to hold office “for the full term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office”.
The Constitution is silent on who performs the duties of the vice president in case of his death or resignation before the expiry of his term, or when the vice president acts as the President of India.
The vice president is the second highest constitutional office in the country. He 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.
The only provision in the Constitution is with regard to the vice president’s function as the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, which is performed, during the period of such vacancy, by the deputy chairperson or any other member of the Rajya Sabha authorised by the President of India.
The vice president may vacate his office by submitting his resignation to the President. The resignation becomes effective from the day it is accepted.
The vice president is the ex-officio chairperson (holding the office of the Rajya Sabha chairperson by virtue of being the vice president) of the Rajya Sabha and does not hold any other office of profit.
During any period when the vice president acts as, or discharges the functions of the President, he does not perform the duties of the office of the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha and is not entitled to any salary or allowances payable to the chairperson of the Upper House.
According to Article 66 of the Constitution, the vice president is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
A person cannot be elected as vice president unless he is a citizen of India, has completed the age of 35, and is qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
A person is not eligible if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India, a state government, or any subordinate local authority.
NDA has comfortable edge in electoral college for VP poll
The ruling NDA has a comfortable edge in the elections to the post of the next vice president, necessitated by the surprise resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday.
The vice president is elected by the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, where nominated members of the Upper House are also eligible to cast their vote.
The 543-member Lok Sabha has one vacant seat — Basirhat in West Bengal — while there are five vacancies in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.
Of the five vacancies in Rajya Sabha, four are from Jammu and Kashmir and one from Punjab, where sitting member Sanjeev Arora quit the seat after being elected to the state assembly in a bypoll last month.
The effective strength of both the Houses together is 786 and the winning candidate will require to win 394 votes in the election for the vice president, considering all eligible voters exercise their franchise.
In Lok Sabha, the BJP-led NDA enjoys the support of 293 members in the 542-member House. The ruling alliance has the support of 129 members in Rajya Sabha that has an effective strength of 240, assuming that the nominated members vote in support of the NDA nominee.
The ruling alliance has the support of 422 members among 786 members, which is the combined strength of both the Houses.
According to Clause 2 of Article 68 of the Constitution, an election to fill a vacancy in the office of the vice president occurring due to his death, resignation or removal, or otherwise, will be held “as soon as possible” after it goes vacant.
The person elected to fill the vacancy will be entitled to hold office “for the full term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office”.
Article 66 (1) of the Constitution provides that the 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 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.
Dhankhar resigned as the vice president on Monday evening, citing medical reasons. He sent his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and said he was stepping down with immediate effect. (PTI)
