Election Commission issues notification for vice president polls

NEW DELHI: The process of filing nominations for the August 5 vice presidential election began today with the Election Commission issuing notification.

Neither the ruling NDA nor the opposition has so far announced their respective candidates for the post of vice president.     

The ruling NDA, which has a majority in the Lok Sabha and received support of parties such as AIADMK and BJD in the Presidential polls, will find it easy to place its candidate as the next vice president.The nominations can be submitted by July 18.     

In the vice president election, a candidate requires 20 proposers and 20 seconders who should be members of Parliament.     

Members of Parliament will use special pens for marking their choice.No whip can be issued by political parties as the election is through a secret ballot.     

Following the ink controversy in Rajya Sabha polls in Haryana last year, the Election Commission has decided to use special pens for the electors to mark their votes in the July 17 presidential election and the vice presidential polls.Votes marked with any other pen are liable to be rejected.     

In the 243-member Rajya Sabha, the BJP as of now has 56 members, while the Congress with 59 is the single largest party. With its recent wins in the recent assembly polls, the BJP is set to emerge as the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha too next year and the NDA's tally would be close to 100. It would, however, still be short of a majority in the upper house.