Guwahati: Voting for the vice-presidential election of 2022 got underway at 10 am at Parliament House in New Delhi on Saturday.
The polls will remain open until 5 pm and then the counting will start. The election results will be announced by late Saturday night.
The election’s returning officer will be chosen, who would be the Secretary-General of Lok Sabha.
The opposition, backed by the Congress, nominated Margaret Alva as its vice-presidential candidate while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the party in power is supporting Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Regional parties including the Janata Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK, and Shiv Sena are backing Dhankhar, who is expected to win with more than 515 votes. With the support of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Alva is projected to receive more than 200 votes (TRS).
According to the proportional representation system, the vice-president is chosen by the members of the Electoral College, which consists of representatives from both Houses of Parliament, using a single transferable vote.
245 Rajya Sabha members and 543 elected members of the Lok Sabha make up this year’s electoral college. According to the Election Commission, each member’s vote would have the same value, or 1. A secret ballot will be used to conduct the voting.
The term of the incumbent vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10.