The election for India’s new Vice-President will be held on August 6 and the results for the second-highest constitutional position in the country will be delivered the same day. This year, it will be a tough fight between NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar and Opposition candidate Margaret Alva. Here's a look at how a Vice-President is elected in India, the eligibility criteria and the list of parties backing the two candidates.

What is the election process?

The Vice-President of India is elected by an electoral college that casts their votes for the nominated candidates. The votes are cast in a secret ballot. The electoral college is made up of members of both the houses of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, along with nominated members of the two houses.

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The strength of the electoral college currently stands at 790 — 233 elected members and 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and 543 elected members and two nominated members of the Lok Sabha. A candidate needs to secure a simple majority by getting over 395 votes to win the election.

Candidates are officially nominated when 20 members of Parliament (MPs) propose their nomination and another 20 MPs second the nomination.

Eligibility for becoming Vice-President

To be eligible to become a Vice-President, an individual needs to be above 35 years of age. They also need to be a citizen of India and meet all the requirements to become a member of the Rajya Sabha.

In case an individual holds any office of profit with the Government of India, or any state government, they are no longer eligible to become a Vice-President.

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What about the current elections?

With the BJP alone controlling 91 seats in the Rajya Sabha and 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, Dhankar is expected to easily become the next Vice-President. Other parties that are supporting Dhankar include the Shiv Sena, Janata Dal United (JDU), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), and others.

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Meanwhile, Opposition candidate Margaret Alva is expected to have the support of the Indian National Congress (INC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M), Communist Party of India (CPI), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party (SP), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), and others.

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has 39 votes in the electoral college, has decided to abstain from vice-presidential elections.

First Published:Aug 5, 2022 2:45 PM IST