INDIA Bloc Likely To Meet Today To Decide Candidate For Vice Presidential Elections

New Delhi: The leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc will likely hold a virtual meeting on Monday evening to decide the candidate for the vice presidential elections.

This comes as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as their Vice Presidential candidate.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Radhakrishnan in the national capital.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister extended his wishes to Radhakrishnan, highlighting his decades of public service.

"Met Thiru CP Radhakrishnan Ji. Conveyed my best wishes on his being the NDA's Vice Presidential nominee. His long years of public service and experience across domains will greatly enrich our nation. May he continue to serve the nation with the same dedication and resolve he has always demonstrated," PM Modi wrote on X.

On Sunday, BJP National President JP Nadda announced Radhakrishnan as the candidate for the VP elections, with the elections set to take place on September 9. The parliamentary board of the party took a unanimous decision, after discussing with their alliance partners, and also the opposition party, to ensure a smooth VP election.

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan has been serving as the 24th Governor of Maharashtra since July 31, 2024. He previously served as the Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024. He also held additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry between March and July 2024.

A veteran BJP leader, Radhakrishnan, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Coimbatore twice and previously served as the Tamil Nadu BJP State President.

The Congress, in turn, has criticised the NDA's nomination of C.P. Radhakrishnan as Vice Presidential candidate, calling him "another RSS man." A Vice President's term is for five years. However, the post fell vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on July 21, citing health reasons.

The VP is elected by an electoral college, which consists of MPs from both houses of Parliament.

The elections of the Vice President are governed by the provisions under Articles 64 and 68 of the Constitution. The Election Commission notifies the VP polls by the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952.

As per Article 66(1) of the Constitution of India, the election of the Vice President shall be held by the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote, and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot.

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