On 29th June 2022, The Election Commission of India declared the date of the polls to elect the next Vice President Of India. The election of Vice President will take place on 6th August 2022.
The polls which will give India its next Vice President will take place on July 6 with results to be announced on the same day. The election will be conducted from 10 am to 5 pm. The term of the current Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu will end on August 10. According to article 68 of the Constitution of India, an election to elect the Vice President of India should be conducted before the term of the sitting Vice President expires. The Vice President is also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by BJP is in a comfortable position to elect its candidate as the Vice President because the BJP and its allies have a strong presence in both the houses of parliament. Earlier, this month the Election Commission also declared the dates for Presidential Polls. The election for President will be held on July 18. Draupadi Murmu will be the candidate from NDA and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha will be the candidate from the opposition.
Qualification to become the Vice President of India:
- He/ She should be an Indian citizen
- He/ She should be over 35 years
- He/ She should not have any criminal records
- He/ She must not hold any office of profit
- He/ She must be qualified to get elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha
- He/ She should not be a member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha
How the election of Vice President happens:
Like the election of the President, the Vice President of India is also not elected directly, he/ she is elected by an electoral college. The process of election for President and Vice President is quite similar but the electoral college that elects the two is different. In electing the Vice President the states have no role to play, only the members of parliament will vote in this election. In electing the Vice President both elected and nominated members of the parliament take part, whereas in the election of the President the nominated members have no role.
Term of office of Vice President:
A Vice President is elected for five years. However, the office of the Vice President may fall vacant before the term ends. There can be a vacancy in the office of Vice President in case he resigns before his term ends, on his death, or when his election is declared void.
Functions of Vice President Of India:
- The Vice President is the ex-officio chairman of the upper house of the parliament. The power and functions of the Vice President in Rajya Sabha are similar to those of the speaker of the Lok Sabha
- In the absence of the President the Vice President can work as the President of the country, however, this can happen for only a period of six months.
- While performing the duty as President, the Vice President should not take the responsibilities of the Rajya Sabha
- Since he is not a member of the Rajya Sabha he doesn’t have the right to vote. He only can give a casting vote.
Vice President election 2017:
M Venkaiah Naidu the current Vice President defeated opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and the opposition candidate by getting over two-thirds votes leaving Gandhi far behind. Naidu secured 516 votes out of 771 votes polled while the UPA candidate managed to grab only 244 votes. A total of 98.21 percent voting was recorded in the 2017 Vice President election polls. 771 MPs voted in the election.
