Prime Minister Modi, Manmohan, Sonia Gandhi and others voted to elect a #VicePresident of the country in Parliament House on Saturday.
While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has declared West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its vice-presidential candidate, Opposition parties have nominated Margaret Alva. The polling to elect the new Vice-President of India began at 10 am at Parliament House in New Delhi and will go on till 5 pm, after which counting of votes will begin.
There were several prominent leaders of the government and opposition including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi casting their votes.
Narendra Modi was among the first leaders to vote in a contest in which the ruling NDA’s Jagdeep Dhankhar appears set to win against the opposition candidate Margaret Alva.
Among those who have voted are Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah, BJP President J P Nadda, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. The voting by MPs from both the Houses is scheduled between 10 am and 5 pm. The counting of votes will take place later in the day.
Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji casts his vote in #VicePresidentialElections2022. pic.twitter.com/6fDAR55l1P
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) August 6, 2022
Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi in Parliament #VicePresidentialElections2022 pic.twitter.com/OiuzWYjgeK
— Supriya Bhardwaj (@Supriya23bh) August 6, 2022
#Delhi | Opposition's Vice Presidential candidate Margaret Alva (@alva_margaret) arrives at parliament. Voting is underway for #VicePresidentialElections2022 | reported by news agency ANI pic.twitter.com/O6KebJwhzc
— NDTV (@ndtv) August 6, 2022
The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. The BJP alone has 394 of 780 total votes in the electoral college of Vice President which places Dhankhar in a comfortable position against Alva.
The lack of unity among opposition parties has further hurt Alva’s prospects. where Mamata Banerjee’s AITC has announced it will abstain from voting. Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSRCP, Mayawati’s BSP and Naveen Patnaik’s BJD have announced support for the NDA candidate.
The Vice President will take oath on August 14, a day after incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidu’s term expires. The Vice President is directed by the constitution to act as the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.