The voting for the Vice-President of India began at 10 am at Parliament house and will last till 5 pm, post which counting will commence.
As the term of presiding M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10, members of both Houses of Parliament are voting to elect the next Vice-President of India on Saturday. PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress MP Manmohan Singh, and Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi were seen casting their votes at Parliament House.
Where National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has declared West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar as its candidate for Vice President, the opposition parties have chosen Margaret Alva. The voting commences at 10 am and will end at 5 pm, post which the counting of votes will begin.
TMC MP and Parliamentary Party leader in Lok sabha wrote to Sisir Adhikari, to abstain from casting a vote for Vice-President Elections as the party has decided. Sisir Adhikari is still an MP from Trinamool Congress.
PM Modi cast his vote at the Vice-Presidential election post to which the Former PM and Congress MP Dr Manmohan Singh arrived in a wheelchair to cast his vote for the Vice Presidential election.
Interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi arrived at Parliament House to cast her vote.
The Electoral College is made up of 788 members: 233 elected Rajya Sabha members, 12 nominated Rajya Sabha members, and 543 elected Lok Sabha members for the 16th Vice-Presidential election. Dhankhar is expected to win smoothly with backing from regional parties that include the Janata Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, and Shiv Sena. With the aid of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Alva is expected to receive more than 200 votes (TRS). The Opposition is divided up once more. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), the second largest Opposition party in Parliament behind the Congress, has opted to abstain from voting. It remains to be seen whether the Opposition will be damaged by cross-voting again, as shown in the Presidential election, last month.
