Vice President Election Announcement Soon, Electoral College List Finalised
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday announced that it has finalised the Electoral College list for the Vice-Presidential Election, 2025, and the date of notification is likely to be 'announced soon".
The elections were necessitated after Jagdeep Dhankhar's unexpected resignation on July 21.
While there is no fixed deadline to fill the vacancy in India's second-highest constitutional office, the law mandates that the election should be held at the earliest.
The poll body, on July 23, said that it has begun preparations to fill the vacancy and will announce the election schedule soon after 'completion of the preparatory activities".
On Thursday, the ECI said that the Electoral College list has members listed in a continuous serial order, arranged alphabetically based on the State/Union Territory of their respective Houses.
'Election Commission of India, under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, is mandated to conduct the election to the office of the Vice-President of India," the ECI said.
The Vice-President of India is elected by an Electoral College comprising the elected members of the Rajya Sabha, nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and the elected members of the Lok Sabha.
'…the Election Commission is mandated to prepare and maintain an updated list of the members of this Electoral College, along with their latest addresses," the ECI added.
Key preparatory activities before holding the VP elections include drafting the electoral college list (comprising elected and nominated members of both Houses), appointing returning officers, and compiling background material on previous elections.
The poll body has already appointed the returning officers for the elections.
Dhankhar's Vice-President Resignation
Dhankhar was elected as the 14th vice-president in August 2022, and his term had two more years. He is the third vice-president in the country's history who resigned before completing the term. VV Giri and R. Venkataraman left the post mid-term as they had to contest presidential elections.
In December 2024, a motion of impeachment was proposed by 54 opposition MPs against Dhankhar but it was not accepted.
In his resignation letter, Dhankhar said he has to prioritise health care. 'To prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately, in accordance with Article 67(a) of the Constitution," the resignation letter reads.
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