Indian vice-presidential election, 2017

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Indian vice-presidential election, 2017
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←  2012 5 August 20172022 →
Turnout 98.21

  Venkaiah Naidu 2 (cropped).jpg Gopalkrishna Gandhi - Chatham House 2010 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Venkaiah Naidu Gopal Krishna Gandhi
Party BJP Independent
Alliance NDA UPA
Home state Andhra Pradesh Delhi
Electoral vote516 244
Percentage67.89% 32.11%
Vice President before election

Mohammad Hamid Ansari
INC

Elected Vice President

Venkaiah Naidu
BJP

The elections to the next Vice-President of India, were held on 5 August 2017. The announcement was made by the Election Commission of India.

Contents

Rajya Sabha Secretary-General Shumsher K. Sheriff served as the Returning Officer for the 15th Vice-Presidential election. [1]

Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, completed his second term on 10 August 2017. [2] Venkaiah Naidu won the election and took oath as 13th Vice-President of India on 11 August 2017 at Darbar Hall, Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.

Mohammad Hamid Ansari Vice President

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is an Indian politician and retired Indian Foreign Service officer who served as the 12th Vice President of India from 2007 to 2017. He has also served as an Indian ambassador and is ex-chairman of Rajya Sabha. Ansari was the first person to be re-elected as Indian VP after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1957. He served as President of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Chancellor of Panjab University, Delhi University, Pondicherry University and the President of the Indian Council of World Affairs in his capacity as Vice President.

Venkaiah Naidu Indian politician

Shri Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu is an Indian politician and the current Vice President of India and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, in office since 11 August 2017. Previously, he served as the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting in the Modi Cabinet. A prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he also served as its national president from 2002 to 2004. Earlier, he was the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He took the oath as Vice-President of India and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2017.

Background

Outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari Hamid ansari.jpg
Outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari

The Vice President of India is the exofficio chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian parliament) and functions as its speaker. He also assumes the post of the President of India in case a vacancy and stays in the post for a maximum period of six months and performs all the functions of the President. The Vice President also has a term of five years. [3]

Vice President of India Second-highest constitutional office of India

The Vice President of India is the second-highest constitutional office in India after the President. Article 63 of Indian Constitution states that "There shall be a Vice President of India." The Vice President acts as President in the absence of the president due to death, resignation, impeachment, or other situations.

Rajya Sabha Upper house of the Parliament of India

The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership of Rajya Sabha is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of 250 members and current laws have provision for 245 members. Most of the members of the House are indirectly elected by the members of States and union territories of India state and territorial legislatures using single transferable votes, while the President can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Members sit for staggered terms lasting six years, with a third of the members up for election every two years.

President of India Ceremonial head of state of India

The President of India is the ceremonial head of state of India and the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.

During the election, the outgoing vice president was Mohammad Hamid Ansari. He was elected to the post in 2007 and re-elected in 2012. His term ends on 10th August 2017. The Election Commission of India announced that the election would be held on 5th August and the result would be declared on the same day.

Election Commission of India election regulatory body of India

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Council in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country. The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act. The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election. Being a constitutional authority, Election Commission is amongst the few institutions which function with both autonomy and freedom, along with the country’s higher judiciary, the Union Public Service Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Election process

The Vice President is elected by an electoral college which includes members of the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Indian parliament) and the members of the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament). The nominated members of the mentioned houses are also eligible to vote in the election process. [4] In the election, voting will be done by a secret ballot and the members of parliament will use a "special pen" to mark their preference. [5]

Lok Sabha Lower house of the Parliament of India

The Lok Sabha is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, and they hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi.

For the 2017 election, the electoral college consists of

Candidates

A candidate participating in the election needs the support of at least 20 electors who would be the proposers of the candidate and needs to get another additional support of at least 20 seconders. The candidate also has to deposit ₹15000 ($233) as a security deposit. [6] Two candidates were nominated for the election. One candidate was nominated by the National Democratic Alliance and another by United Progressive Alliance.

NDA Candidate

Venkaiah Naidu was nominated by National Democratic Alliance. He was the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation of India. He had also served as a party president of Bharatiya Janata Party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Naidu was a "fitting candidate" for the post. [7] According to Indian Express leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party felt that if Naidu got elected then it would act as a morale booster for the party in south Indian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. [8] Besides the parties of the NDA, YSR Congress party, AIADMK and Telangana Rashtra Samiti parties also pledged to support Naidu. News18 wrote that Naidu was expected to get 489 votes compared to 394 votes required to win the election. [9]

Name Born Current or previous positions State AnnouncedRef
Venkaiah Naidu 2 (cropped).jpg
Venkaiah Naidu 		1 July 1949 (age 68)
Nellore, Andhra Pradesh 		Minister of Information and Broadcasting (2016–2017)
Minister of Urban Development (2014–2017)
Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (2014–2017)
Minister of Rural Development (2000–2002)
Rajya Sabha Member from Karnataka (1998-2016)
Member, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly (1978-1983)
President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (2002–2004)
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs (2014–2016)
Andhra Pradesh 		18 July 2017 [10]

UPA Candidate

Gopalkrishna Gandhi was the candidate nominated by the United Progressive Alliance and had the support of 18 opposition parties. He is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and C. Rajagopalachari, two prominent figures of Indian freedom movement. A former diplomat, Gandhi is an alumni of St. Stephen's College and has also served as India's envoy to Sri Lanka, Norway and South Africa. He has also held the post of Governor of West Bengal and presided over the state during Nandigram violence. [11] Gandhi had the support of Indian National Congress, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party and the Left Front. [12]

Name Born Current or previous positions State AnnouncedRef
Gopalkrishna Gandhi - Chatham House 2010.jpg
Gopalkrishna Gandhi 		22 April 1946 (age 72)
Delhi 		24th Governor of West Bengal (2004–2009)
Delhi 		11 July 2017 [13]


Results

Following the election, Venkaiah Naidu was elected 13th Vice-President of India. He has sworn-in to the office on 11 August 2017. [14] Of 790 seats in Parliament, 5 seats were vacant during the election.

e  •  d  Results of the Indian vice-presidential election, 2017
Candidate
Party
Electoral Votes
% of Votes
Venkaiah Naidu BJP 51667.89
Gopalkrishna Gandhi Independent 24432.11
Total760100.00
Valid Votes76096.82
Invalid Votes111.40
Turnout77198.22
Abstentions141.78
Electors785

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Election to the Office of the Vice-President, 2017 (15th Vice-Presidential Election)" . Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  2. ↑ "Terms of the Houses". eci.nic.in. Election Commission of India/National Informatics Centre . Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Vice President – Election, Powers and Functions". OM ABC. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  4. 1 2 "How the Vice-President of India is elected: Know what it will take Venkaiah Naidu or Gopalkrishna Gandhi to win". Financial Express. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "Election Commission issues notification for vice president polls". New Indian Express. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "What is the procedure to elect the vice president: All you need to know". Indian Express. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "Vice-Presidential Election 2017: Venkaiah Naidu is NDA's nominee, to take on Opposition's Gopalkrishna Gandhi". First Post. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Keeping Rajya Sabha and South in mind, NDA names Venkaiah for vice-president". Indian Express. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Venkaiah Naidu vs Gopalkrishna Gandhi: Here's How the 13th Vice President of India Will be Elected Today". News18. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Venkaiah Naidu files his nomination for vice-president". Times of India. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "Indian Presidential Election 2017: Who Is Gopalkrishna Gandhi? Vice President Candidate Known For Straight Talk". NDTV. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Vice-Presidential Election LIVE updates: Counting begins, 98 per cent polling recorded". Indian Express. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Eye On Nitish Kumar, Opposition Picks Gopalkrishna Gandhi For Vice-President". NDTV. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  14. ↑ Venkaiah Naidu To Become 13th Vice-President of India
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