Vice-Presidential Poll LIVE: 92.9% turnout recorded, counting of vote begins

725 out of 780 MPs voted for the Vice Presidential Election. Two BJP MPs – Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dhotre, who are unwell, did not vote.

Members of Parliament of both Houses are voting today to elect the next Vice President of India. The counting of ballots will take place at 6pm.

1. Margaret Alva was born to a Christian family in Mangalore, Karnataka. She is a graduate of Mount Carmel College and went on to get a law degree from the University of Law College & Department of Studies in Law.

2. A member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), Alva became the convenor of the Karnataka Congress’ women’s front in 1972.

3. Margaret Alva was in the spotlight in 2008 for raising her voice against the Congress’ ticket distribution in Karnataka and alleging that the tickets were open to bidders.

4. Alva was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Congress representative in 1974. She served a six-year term and was re-elected for three more years.

5. Margaret Alva has served as the Governor of Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand during her administrative stint.

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> Dhankhar, who is a lawyer by profession, joined politics in 1989.

> He became the governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has made headlines since then over his tumultuous relations with the Mamata Banerjee government.

> He tendered his resignation as the Governor of West Bengal after being nominated as VP candidate by BJP-led NDA.

Over 85 per cent votes were polled in the Vice Presidential election till 2pm. Of the 780 MPs in both Houses — another eight Rajya Sabha seats are vacant — around 670 of them had cast their vote so far, officials told PTI.

All MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, are entitled to vote in the vice presidential election. The two Houses of Parliament together have a sanctioned strength of 788 MPs, of which there are eight vacancies in the Upper House. Hence, 780 MPs are eligible to cast their ballot in this election.

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, 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.”

All MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, are entitled to vote in the vice presidential election. The two Houses of Parliament together have a sanctioned strength of 788 MPs, of which there are eight vacancies in the Upper House. Hence, 780 MPs are eligible to cast their ballot in this election.

1. Margaret Alva was born to a Christian family in Mangalore, Karnataka. She is a graduate of Mount Carmel College and went on to get a law degree from the University of Law College & Department of Studies in Law.

2. A member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), Alva became the convenor of the Karnataka Congress’ women’s front in 1972.

3. Margaret Alva was in the spotlight in 2008 for raising her voice against the Congress’ ticket distribution in Karnataka and alleging that the tickets were open to bidders.

4. Alva was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Congress representative in 1974. She served a six-year term and was re-elected for three more years.

5. Margaret Alva has served as the Governor of Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand during her administrative stint.

Read full story here

TMC MP and Parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay has written to Sisir Adhikari, father of Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, to abstain from voting as decided by the party. Sisir Adhikari is still an MP from the TMC.

The Vice-President lives in Uparashtrapati Bhavan, located on Maulana Azad Road in New Delhi. A Vice President receives the Speaker’s salary and perks as he/she also is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Apart from allowances, the Vice-President gets ₹4 lakh per month.

1. Dhankhar was born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district.

2. After finishing his schooling from Sainik School, Chittorgarh, he did graduation in Physics and then pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan.

3. Dankhar became one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan and practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court.

4. He forayed into politics in 1989 and was elected to Lok Sabha from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu the same year.

5. From 1993-1998, Dhankhar represented the Kishangarh constituency of Ajmer district in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. Read full story

Karnataka Congress said as Odisha stood behind Droupadi Murmu who became the President of India last month, all Karnataka MPs should vote for Margaret Alva, a Kannadiga. 

Telugu Desam Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Biju Janta Dal will vote for NDA’s candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar today.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen will support Margaret Alva, a decision has been taken.

TRS has decided to support opposition candidate Margaret Alva. 

Ruptures in the opposition yet again have further hurt Margaret Alva’s chances. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress – which is one of the largest opposition parties in Rajya Sabha – has said it would abstain from voting. Read full story.

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.

The BJP, which leads the NDA, alone has 394 MPs — 303 in Lok Sabha and 91 in the Rajya Sabha — more than the halfway mark of 391. Overall, Dhankhar is likely to get 525 votes, including NDA’s 462 votes, including the 12 Shiv Sena rebel MPs who are loyalists of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. The ruling dispensation has also secured support from Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSRCP (31 MPs), Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party BSP (11) and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (21 MPs). Read full story

In a fresh appeal to the MPs, Margaret Alva said, “If Parliament is to function effectively, MPs, independent of their parties, must find ways to rebuild trust and restore broken communication amongst each other. In the end, it is the MPs who determine the character of our Parliament.”

Unlike the presidential poll where voting takes place in multiple locations as elected MLAs, not nominated, also form part of the electoral college, in the vice presidential election, voting takes place in Parliament House. The electoral college in the vice presidential election comprises a total of 788 members of both Houses of Parliament. Since all the electors are members of both Houses of Parliament, the value of the vote of each MP would be the same – one.

The polling will be held from 10am to 5pm. Ballots will be counted immediately after that. Returning officers will announce the name of the next Vice-President by late Saturday evening.