Vice-President election 2022 live | Polling underway; PM Modi, Rahul and Sonia Gandhi cast vote

Members of Parliament of both houses are now, on August 6, voting to elect the next Vice-President of India in an election where NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar is pitted against Opposition pick Margaret Alva. With numbers stacked in favour of the NDA, former West Bengal governor Dhankhar is set for an easy win.

Cracks were visible in Opposition unity as Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress decided to abstain from voting alleging a lack of consultations while deciding on the name of Ms. Alva. The 80-year-old is a Congress veteran and has served as governor of Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, while the 71-year-old Mr. Dhankhar is a Jat leader from Rajasthan with socialist background.

With the support of some regional parties like the Janta Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK and Shiv Sena, the NDA nominee is likely to get over 515 votes, enough for a comfortable win for him. Ms. Alva is likely to get over 200 votes, going by the support announced by parties for her candidature so far.

While polling will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, the ballots will be counted immediately after that. By late Saturday evening, the returning officer will announce the name of the next Vice President.

Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, are eligible to vote in the vice-presidential poll. The term of incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10. The Vice President is also the chairperson of Rajya Sabha.

Here are the latest updates from the Vice-President election 2022:

2.50 p.m.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh casts vote

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president J.P. Nadda, and Commerce Minister and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal arrived together to cast their vote.

2.35 p.m.

MPs cast their votes to elect India’s next Vice-President

2.10 p.m.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi cast vote

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and leader Rahul Gandhi casted their vote for the vice-presidential election.

1.17 p.m.

Akali Dal supports NDA’s Jagdeep Dhankar

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said his party has supported NDA nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar in the polling to elect the next Vice-President of India.

In a tweet, Mr. Badal said, “Shiromani Akali Dal supports a peasant’s son, crusader for farmers’ rights and the man who secured OBC status for the farming community (Jats) in his State, Sh Jagdeep Dhankhar for the Vice-Presidency.”     

In another tweet, Mr. Badal said, “Shiromani Akali Dal is happy that in both presidential and vice-presidential polls, we have supported the candidates who have stood by the downtrodden and the farmers.”     

Sukhbir Badal and his wife and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal are Members of Lok Sabha. In July, the SAD supported National Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu. – PTI

1.05 p.m.

Margaret Alva visits polling booth

UPA vice-presidential candidate Margaret Alva visited the polling booth for the election of the Vice-President of India on Saturday at the Parliament House in New Delhi.

During the visit, Ms. Alva also interacted with Members of Parliament, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and NCP leader Supriya Sule, who were there to cast their respective votes.

11.30 a.m.

Rajnath Singh, J.P. Nadda among senior leaders to cast vote

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president J P Nadda, and Commerce Minister and Leader of House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal arrived together to cast their vote.

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh, BJP chief whip Rakesh Singh, Telangana Rashtra Samithi MPs and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party’s Raghu Rama Krishna Raju vote were among the other that have cast their vote so far. – PTI

11.20 a.m.

Manmohan Singh, Amit Shah cast vote

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and current Home Minister Amit Shah also casted their votes on Saturday for the vice-presidential election at the Parliament House in New Delhi.

Mr. Singh arrived in a wheelchair and needed support to stand up and caste his vote. CPM MP John Brittas was among those who helped the veteran leader in exercising his franchise. The two-term prime minister greeted those present with folded hands.

Home Minister Amit Shah and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan were among the leaders who turned up early at the Parliament House. – PTI

10.12 a.m.

PM Modi casts vote

10.00 a.m.

Polling to elect next Vice President begins

Polling to elect the next Vice President of India began at 10.00 a.m., with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being among the first ones to cast vote.

The polling will continue till 5 pm, following which the counting of ballots will take place.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, 71, is pitted against joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva, 80. – PTI

August 5

BJP organises V-P poll drill for NDA MPs

The BJP on Friday organised a mock voting drill for NDA coalition MPs ahead of the vice-presidential election. BJP president J.P. Nadda and several Union ministers were present during the exercise. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav oversaw it.

After the exercise, NDA’s vice-presidential nominee Jagdeep Dhankar reached Parliament and thanked the MPs of the ruling alliance for nominating him as their candidate. – PTI

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2022

Where is the south in this whole set-up, asks Margaret Alva

The Opposition’s vice-presidential candidate, Margaret Alva, who never shies away from a good fight, has made the election about ‘non-representation’ of South India in the country’s top leadership. Read edited excerpts from an interview with the candidate.

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2022

Why the BJP picked Jagdeep Dhankhar for Vice-President

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was declared the NDA’s candidate for Vice-President on Saturday, has had a career in public life that stretches to over three decades. He had been a lawyer in the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, was elected MP from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan on a Janata Dal ticket in 1989, and an MLA in Rajasthan in 1993. He was also Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs at the Centre in 1990.

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2022

Margaret Alva, a veteran of political comebacks

A five-term member of Parliament, former Union Minister and former Governor, Margaret Alva’s accomplishments made her a unanimous choice of the Opposition parties, which are contesting the vice-presidential (V-P) polls more to prove the point that they are ready for a fight despite the odds to win.

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2022

Jagdeep Dhankhar | The party loyalist 

On July 30, 2019 when Jagdeep Dhankhar took oath as the Governor of West Bengal, not many in the political and social circles were familiar with his name. The last public office Mr. Dhankhar held was in 1998 as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan, more than two decades before assuming the office of a Governor. Cut to 2022: the 71-year-old politician has been nominated as the vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). What has led to his fame perhaps is his eventful but rather controversial term as the Governor of West Bengal.

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2022

AAP, JMM announce support to Margaret Alva

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will support joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva in the August 6 vice-presidential election. The party’s political affairs committee “unanimously” decided to support Alva after a meeting chaired by its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP’s spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said on Tuesday.