Jagdeep Dhankhar Resigns: When, How The Next Vice President Will Be Elected
The next Vice President will be required to serve the entire five years, instead of filling in for the remaining time left in their predecessor's tenure.
Jagdeep Dhankhar announced his resignation from the position of Vice President on Monday citing his illness as the reason. He still had two years left to complete his tenure. NDTV Profit sheds light on the procedures and the mechanism through which the next Vice President will be elected.
A Full Tenure
The next Vice President will be required to serve the entire five years, instead of filling in for the remaining time left in their predecessor's tenure, according to the Vice President of India's official website.
In case of the incumbent's vacancy occurring due to death, resignation or removal, the election to fill said vacancy is to be conducted as soon as it is created. Which is, within 60 days of the expiry of the term of office.
The Secretary-General of either House of Parliament, acting by rotation, serves as the Returning Officer for Vice-Presidential elections. This officer issues a public notice in a prescribed format, inviting nominations from candidates and specifying the location for delivering nomination papers.
Electoral Procedure
The Election Commision of India is to conduct the election for the Vice President's office. The electoral college will choose the new appointee via secret ballot voting in proportional representation format, with each member using a single transferrable vote.
The electoral college consists of both houses of Parliament. The elector votes via ballot paper indicating their first, second, third and fourth preferences, and so on.
First, each candidate's initial votes are counted. These are summed, divided by two, and then one is added (any fractions are ignored). This final number is the winning quota a candidate needs to get elected.
If, after the first count or any subsequent counts, a candidate's total votes equal or exceed this quota, that candidate is declared the winner.
If at the end of any count, no candidate can be declared elected, then through a process of exclusion, candidates lowest on the poll will be repeated till one of the continuing candidates reaches the quota.
Requirements For Eligibility
The Vice-President cannot be a member of either the Parliament (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha) or any state legislature. If someone already holding a seat in one of these bodies is elected Vice President, they automatically give up their seat the moment they officially take office.
To be elected Vice-President, a person must:
Be a citizen of India.
Be at least 35 years old.
Be qualified to be a member of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States)
The candidate is also not eligible if they hold any office of profit under the Government of India or a state government or any subordinate local authority.
Further Eligibility Requirements
To run for Vice-President, a person needs the support of at least 20 Members of Parliament as proposers and another 20 MPs as seconders.
Candidates must submit their nomination papers to the Returning Officer by the deadline stated in the public notice. A candidate can submit a maximum of four nomination papers.
Each candidate must also pay a security deposit of Rs 15,000. This is a one-time fee, regardless of how many nomination papers they file.
On the specified date, the Returning Officer examines all nomination papers with the candidate, their proposer or seconder, and one authorized person present.
Finally, a candidate can withdraw their name from the election by submitting a written notice to the Returning Officer within the given timeframe.
