New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday said it has started the preparations for the election to the Vice-President of India. The election is necessitated following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar from the post of Vice-President on Monday.In a communique, the ECI said, the Ministry of Home Affairs vide its gazette notification dated July 22, has notified the resignation of Dhankhar. The ECI said under Article 324, it is mandated to conduct the election to the office of the Vice-President of India.
Accordingly, preparations relating to the Vice-Presidential Elections, 2025 have already started. On completion of the preparatory activities, the announcement of the Election Schedule to the office of the Vice-President of India will follow as soon as possible,” it said.The ECI said that major pre-announcement activities which it has already started include the Preparation of Electoral College, which consists of elected as well as nominated members of Rajya Sabha as well as Lok Sabha and finalisation of Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officer. In addition, the poll panel said it has started preparation and dissemination of background material on all the previous Vice-Presidential elections.Dhankhar’s term was to end on August 10, 2027. His resignation sent ripples through the political corridors, with Congress claiming the reasons for the abrupt decision were “far deeper” than those cited by him.How is a Vice President Elected?The vice president is elected by the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, where nominated members of the Upper House are also eligible to cast their vote.According to Clause 2 of Article 68 of the Constitution, an election to fill a vacancy in the office of the vice president occurring due to his death, resignation or removal, or otherwise, will be held “as soon as possible” after it goes vacant. The person elected to fill the vacancy will be entitled to hold office “for the full term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office”.Article 66 (1) of the Constitution provides that the election shall be held in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot. In this system, the elector has to mark preferences against the names of the candidates.The vice president is the second highest constitutional office in the country. He serves for a five-year term, but can continue to be in office, irrespective of the expiry of the term, until the successor assumes office.NDA Has Comfortable EdgeThe ruling NDA has a comfortable edge in the elections for the post of the next vice president. The 543-member Lok Sabha has one vacant seat — Basirhat in West Bengal — while there are five vacancies in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.Of the five vacancies in Rajya Sabha, four are from Jammu and Kashmir and one from Punjab, where sitting member Sanjeev Arora quit the seat after being elected to the state assembly in a bypoll last month.The effective strength of both Houses together is 782, and the winning candidate will require to win 392 votes in the election for the vice president, considering all eligible voters exercise their franchise.In Lok Sabha, the BJP-led NDA enjoys the support of 293 members in the 542-member House. The ruling alliance has the support of 134 members in Rajya Sabha that has an effective strength of 240, assuming that the nominated members vote in support of the NDA nominee. The ruling alliance has the support of 427 members among 786 members, which is the combined strength of both the Houses.