India To Get New Vice President Today: How Is The Veep Elected

India will elect its next Vice President today. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has fielded CP Radhakrishnan against the opposition INDIA bloc's B Sudershan Reddy.

Mr Radhakrishnan is the Governor of Maharashtra, while Mr Reddy is a retired Supreme Court judge. The election comes after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned, citing health concerns, in July.

Voting Schedule

The voting takes place inside Parliament House, New Delhi. It will begin at 10 am and continue until 5 pm. Once the polling ends, the ballots will be sealed, and counting will begin after 6 pm. The results are expected late at night.

Who Votes

The Vice President is elected by an electoral college consisting of all members of both Houses of Parliament. This includes elected as well as nominated MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. At present, 788 MPs are eligible to vote.

Role Of The Election Commission

The Election Commission is responsible for holding the Vice-Presidential election. For the 2025 poll, it has appointed the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha, Pramod Chandra Mody, as the Returning Officer, who will oversee the entire process. By practice, this role alternates between the top officials of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Along with this, Garima Jain, Joint Secretary, and Vijay Kumar, Director from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, have been named as Assistant Returning Officers to help conduct the election.

Eligibility

To contest the Vice-Presidential election, a candidate must be an Indian citizen, at least 35 years old, and eligible for election to the Rajya Sabha. They must also not hold any office of profit under the central or state government. These conditions are laid down in Articles 66 and 67 of the Constitution.

How The Vice President Is Elected

A valid nomination requires the support of at least 20 proposers and 20 seconders from among MPs, along with a security deposit of Rs 15,000. The election is conducted through a secret ballot using the single transferable vote (STV) system of proportional representation.

MPs rank the candidates in order of preference: "1" for their first choice, "2" for their second, and so on.

How Counting Works

To be declared elected, a candidate must secure more than 50 per cent of the valid votes. If no one achieves this on the first count, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their ballots are transferred according to the next preference. This process continues until a candidate crosses the majority mark.

Importance Of The Post

The Vice President is the second-highest constitutional authority in India and also functions as the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

This election is unusual because it comes before the completion of the five-year term, due to Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation in July, citing health reasons. Earlier, an early Vice Presidential election was held in 1987.