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Advantage Dhankhar in today’s vice presidential election
By late Saturday evening, the returning officer will announce the result of the VP election, voting for which will take place from 10 am to 5 pm.
Former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is all set to become India’s 14th Vice President on Saturday as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Nationalist Democratic Alliance (NDA), which has projected him as the candidate for the post, has the required numbers in the two Houses of Parliament.
By late Saturday evening, the returning officer will announce the result of the VP election, voting for which will take place from 10 am to 5 pm.
The battle lines are clearly drawn with nearly all parties announcing their support for either Dhankhar or Margaret Alva, the Opposition-sponsored candidate for the vice-presidential election. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), the largest Opposition party after the Congress, however, has stuck to its decision to abstain from the election, further denting Alva’s chances.
The electoral college for the vice-presidential election comprises 780 votes — 543 elected Lok Sabha MPs and 237 members of the Rajya Sabha. Unlike the presidential election, members of state legislative assemblies so not vote in the vice-presidential poll.
Also read: Vice-presidential poll tomorrow: NDA's Dhankhar set for easy win against Oppn's Alva | 10 facts
The BJP, which leads the NDA, alone has 394 MPs — 303 in Lok Sabha and 91 in the Rajya Sabha — more than the halfway mark of 391. Overall, Dhankhar is likely to get 525 votes, including NDA’s 462 votes, including the 12 Shiv Sena rebel MPs who are loyalists of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. The ruling dispensation has also secured support from Andhra Pradesh’s ruling YSRCP (31 MPs), Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party BSP (11) and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (21 MPs).
Dhankhar is set to win the poll on Saturday and is expected to take oath as the vice president on August 10. However, he might not be able to chair the Rajya Sabha in the ongoing monsoon session as the government is discussing a plan to curtail the session possibly on August 8 days ahead of its scheduled adjournment on August 12.
Alva, meanwhile, has received the backing of several regional parties, including the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Hyderabad MP Assaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM has also extended its support to Alva, who is expected to get more than 200 votes in the Saturday’s election.
“If Parliament is to function effectively, MPs, independent of their parties, must find ways to rebuild trust and restore broken communication amongst each other. In the end, it is the MPs who determine the character of our Parliament,” Alva said in a fresh video message on the eve of the election.
Also read: ‘Cast your vote without fear...’: Margaret Alva's message to MPs ahead of vice president polls
She added: “The time has come for all parties to get together and restore the faith and the trust in each other and restore the dignity of Parliament.”
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge hosted a dinner on Thursday night to thank all opposition MPs who are supporting Alva.
Dhankhar, on the other hand, met a number of BJP MPs at his residence on Friday. They include Sushil Kumar Modi, Gautam Gambhir, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Rajendra Agrawal, Pradeep Choudhary and Kartikeya Sharma, among others.
(With PTI inputs)
