Notification for vice president's election issued, nomination process begins

The Election Commission on Thursday issued a notification for the September 9 election to the office of the vice president, officially kickstarting the nomination process. As per the notification, August 21 is the last date for filing nominations. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on August 22, while August 25 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature.

The vice president’s post fell vacant on July 21 following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, who cited health reasons. His term was originally set to end in August 2027. 

According to constitutional provisions, in the case of a mid-term election, the newly elected vice president is entitled to a full five-year term. To be eligible for the post, a candidate must be a citizen of India, at least 35 years of age, and qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha. A person holding any office of profit under the central or state government, or any subordinate authority, is disqualified from contesting.

The vice president is elected by an electoral college comprising members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, including nominated members of the Upper House. Currently, the Lok Sabha has one vacancy—Basirhat in West Bengal—while the Rajya Sabha has five vacancies: four from Jammu and Kashmir and one from Punjab. The Punjab seat was vacated after AAP leader Sanjeev Arora resigned following his election to the state assembly in a recent bypoll. The effective strength of the electoral college is 786, and the winning candidate must secure at least 394 votes, assuming all members cast their ballots.

The BJP-led NDA holds a clear advantage in the electoral college. In the Lok Sabha, the alliance has the support of 293 out of 542 members. In the Rajya Sabha, it is backed by 129 members, including nominated members who are likely to support the NDA. The total strength of the ruling bloc stands at 422.

Article 66(1) of the Constitution mandates that the election be conducted through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, and voting is done by secret ballot. Under this system, electors mark their preferences against the names of the candidates.