Members of Parliament will cast their ballot on Saturday for the Vice-President election. Ruling National Democratic Alliance candidate is M. Venkaiah Naidu and the Opposition has fielded Gopalkrishna Gandhi against him.
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 Mr. Gandhi, a former Governor of West Bengal. The BJD has also decided to back him.
MPs will use special pens for marking their choice in the election to be held between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Counting of votes will commence after polling and the results will be declared by 7.00 p.m., Election Commission officials said quoting precedents.
No whip can be issued by political parties as the election is through a secret ballot.
Latest Updates
3.25 p.m: 96.94 per cent polling till 3 pm, says Assistant Returning Officer Mukul Pandey.
1.45 p.m.: 90.83 per cent voting till 1 pm in vice-presidential election (713 of 785 electors), said Assistant Returning Officer Mukul Pandey.
1.40 p.m.: 713 votes polled till now for the Vice-President poll contested by NDA candidate M. Venkaiah Naidu and opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
1.20 p.m.: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar cast his vote during the Vice-President election in New Delhi
12.50 p.m.: Nearly 700 votes cast in the Vice-President election already. Around 786 MPs are eligible for voting.
Rajya Sabha MPs Sachin Tendulkar and Rajeev Shukla come out after casting their votes. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
12.23 p.m.: Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, his deputy in the Upper House, Anand Sharma, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, also cast their votes.
12.01 p.m.: Rajya Sabha MP Rekha arrives to cast her vote for the Vice-President poll. Interestingly she has the lotus motif on her saree.
Rajya Sabha MP Rekha seen with SP MP Dimple Yadav during the Vice-President election in New Delhi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
11.59 a.m.: Lok Sabha MP Chhedi Paswan debarred from voting because of an interim order from Supreme Court on a disqualification petition.
11.45 a.m.: Congress party MPs Jyotiraditya Scindia, Deepender Singh Hooda, Sushmita Dev also cast their votes to elect the next chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
11.35 a.m.: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi have also voted. The opposition-backed Vice-President candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi who is not a member of either the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha cannot vote.
Opposition-backed Vice-President candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi greets Congress president Sonia Gandhi during the polling, in New Delhi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
11.15 a.m.: With the Vice-President election ending today, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to resign from their respective parliament seats.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi casting her vote for the Vice President election at Parliament house in New Delhi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
11.14 a.m.: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted "My best wishes to Shri @MVenkaiahNaidu Ji for the #VicePresidentialElection."
11.00 a.m.: Rajya Sabha member and boxer Mary Kom, Union minister Prakash Javadekar and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh were seen standing in the queue to cast their votes.
10.23 a.m.: BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Subramanian Swamy cast their votes for electing the next Vice-President at the Parliament House in New Delhi on Saturday.
10.17 a.m.: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath arrive to cast their vote during the Vice-President election.
10.08 a.m.: The NDA vice-presidential candidate M. Venkaiah Naidu arrived at Parliament House to cast his vote.
NDA Vice-President candidate M. Venkaiah Naidu comes out after casting his vote, in New Delhi on Saturday. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
10.05 a.m.: Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote at Parliament House to elect the next Vice-President.
10.01 a.m.: MPs arrive to cast their votes in Parliament. The contestants are NDA's M. Venkaiah Naidu and Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
10.00 a.m.: Voting gets underway in Parliament House to elect the next Vice-President.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday termed enhancing the dignity of Parliament the need of the hour, and exhorted NDA MPs to contribute to the effective functioning of the legislature.
He was speaking at a meeting of NDA MPs at the G.M.C. Balayogi auditorium on the eve of the vice-presidential polls, in which M. Venkaiah Naidu will be the NDA’s candidate. He also released two volumes of speeches and writings of Mr. Naidu entitled Tireless Voice-Relentless Journey.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi releasing the book on Venkaiah Naidu in the presence of Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley at Parlliament house in New Delhi on Friday. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy
Vice-presidential nominee of the Opposition Gopalkrishna Gandhi, describing himself as an apolitical candidate, has called upon MPs across party lines to vote for him without fear or favour with no whip over their decision. “Independent vote for an independent candidate,” he told The Hindu in an interview and revealed that in Tamil Nadu he had written to both Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to support his candidature.
The vice-presidential election may look like it is in the bag for the ruling NDA, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking no chances. On Friday evening, he met MPs of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the parties that have pledged support to its candidate M. Venkaiah Naidu at the G.M.C. Balayogi Auditorium in the Parliament House complex.