Naidu has backing of 485 of 788 electoral college members

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

candidate so far enjoys committed support of 485 of the 788 members of the electoral college that will choose the next vice president on August 5, managers of the former Union minister said.

With more than 60 per cent of the votes likely go in his favour, Naidu is set for an impressive win over joint opposition nominee Gopal Krishna Gandhi.


Sources in the said they are confident about getting more support as the polling day approaches.

Though the electoral college's strength is 790, two members-- Vinod Khanna and Anil Madhav Dave--both of the BJP, passed away recently.

The members of the and the constitute the electoral college that elects the vice president.

The NDA's strength in the 544-member (reduced by one following the demise of Vinod Khanna) is 337, while it has 77 MPs out of the total 244 in the Upper House.

Three non-parties- the AIADMK, and YSR Congress- have also announced their support to Naidu, taking the number of lawmakers backing him up by 54 in the and 17 in

In the NDA, the BJP's current strength is 281 in the Lower House followed by 18, 16, six and four of the Shiv Sena, TDP, LJP and SAD.

In the Rajya Sabha, the saffron party's strength is 56 followed by six of TDP, and three each of Shiv Sena and SAD.

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