The election for the office of Vice-President of India is being held today, with polling scheduled from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at the New Parliament Building in New Delhi.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has fielded Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, who faces the INDIA bloc’s nominee, former Supreme Court judge B. Sudershan Reddy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to cast the first vote. Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Ram Mohan Naidu, along with Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, have been named official polling agents.
Counting of votes will begin at 6:00 pm, and the result is likely to be declared later in the evening.
The Vice President, who also serves as the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, is elected by an electoral college of 781 parliamentarians, comprising 542 elected members of the Lok Sabha and 239 from the Rajya Sabha (233 elected and 12 nominated, with six vacancies across both Houses). Each vote carries equal weight and polling is conducted through a secret ballot. A simple majority of 391 votes is required for victory.
The vacancy arose after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from the post on July 21, citing health reasons.
