NDA vs INDIA battle: Vice Presidential elections today, voting begins at 10 am
PTC News Desk: By the evening of September 9, India will have a new Vice President. The contest is between the BJP-led alliance’s nominee, Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan, and the INDIA bloc’s candidate, former Supreme Court judge Justice B Sudershan Reddy, who could spring a surprise.
Voting begins at 10 am in Parliament, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to cast the first vote before leaving for flood-affected Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
Polling will continue until 5 pm, after which counting will start, and the result is expected by night. The election follows the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21, who stepped down citing health reasons under Article 67(a) of the Constitution. His departure created a vacancy in the country’s second-highest constitutional office, setting up a political showdown between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc
How the numbers add up ?
The Vice President of India, who is also ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha is elected by both the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated members of the Upper House. The numeric indicates that the NDA has a clear advantage over opposition. Currently, the combined strength of both the houses is 786 and a candidate requires 394 votes to win in total. The NDA is well placed with 293 MPs in the lower House and 120 MPs in the upper House, including support from the nominated members.
The numbers give the ruling alliance a comfortable majority with an estimated total of 422 votes, far above the required minimum votes.
- With inputs from agencies
