Vice Presidential Poll 2017 | Voting begins, MPs to choose between M Venkaiah Naidu and Gopal Krishna Gandhi

India will get its new Vice President by the end of Saturday as the elected representatives will vote to choose between ruling NDA’s candidate M Venkaiah Naidu and Opposition’s Gopal Krishna Gandhi.

The name of the next vice president of India will be known on same evening after members of Parliament cast their ballot during the day in Parliament House.

Members of Parliament will use special pens for marking their choice in the election to be held between 10 am and 5 pm.

The counting of votes will commence after polling and the results will be declared by 7.00 pm, Election Commission officials said quoting precedents.No whip can be issued by political parties as the election is through a secret ballot.

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Naidu vs Gandhi 

The ruling NDA, which has a majority in the Lok Sabha, will find it easy to place its candidate as the next vice president. 

The BJD and the JD(U) which had supported NDA nominee Ramnath Kovind for the post of president, have decided to back opposition nominee Gandhi.

Though the JD(U) has broken ties with ‘mahagathbandhan’ and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in Bihar, it has decided to vote for Gandhi, a former governor of West Bengal.

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Electoral college

The electoral college which elects the vice president, who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, consists of elected and nominated members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

The total strength of the two Houses is 790, but there are two vacancies in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha.  BJP MP in Lok Sabha Chhedi Paswan is barred from casting vote following a judicial pronouncement.

In the 545-member Lok Sabha, the BJP has 281 members. The NDA led by BJP, has 338 members.

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.

The one who bags 50 per cent plus one vote of the total valid votes cast will win the poll.

The term of the present incumbent Hamid Ansari, who has held the post for two consecutive terms, is coming to an end on August 10.

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