India: Voting for Vice President elections begin today

Jagdeep Dhankhar and Margaret Alva are in the fray

By ANI

Published: Sat 6 Aug 2022, 8:24 AM

Last updated: Sat 6 Aug 2022, 8:35 AM

Voting for the Vice President of India will be held today, as the tenure of the incumbent 2017-nominated VP, M Venkaiah Naidu, comes to an end on August 10.

National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) vice-presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar and Opposition nominee Margaret Alva are the two contenders for election to the Office of the Vice President.

On July 18, Dhankhar filed his nomination papers before the Returning Officer and Secretary General, of the Lok Sabha.

Advertising

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and BJP chief JP Nadda, were present when Dhankar filed his nomination.

The position of Vice President-- the second-highest constitutional post in the country-- is elected via an electoral college consisting of members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

Dhankhar, who is a lawyer by profession, joined politics in 1989. He became the governor of West Bengal in July 2019, and has since made headlines over his tumultuous relations with the Mamata Banerjee government. He tendered his resignation as the Governor of West Bengal.

On Wednesday, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) announced its support for the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar in the upcoming vice presidential elections.

Earlier, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati had announced her party's support for Dhankhar as well.

Meanwhile, Alva filed her nomination for the vice presidential election on July 19. Opposition parties on July 17 had decided to field the former Rajasthan Governor as their joint candidate for the vice presidential election.

This decision was taken at a meeting of the Opposition leaders of 17 parties, at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

On Friday, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) announced to support Opposition candidate Margaret Alva for the vice-presidential elections.

ALSO READ: