Voting is underway for the vice presidential elections on Tuesday, with polling scheduled between 10 am and 5 pm at the Parliament House in New Delhi.

The election result will be announced on Tuesday itself.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast the first vote as part of the election.

While the ruling National Democratic Alliance has fielded Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan for the post, the Opposition INDIA bloc has named former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy as its nominee.

The Biju Janata Dal, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Shiromani Akali Dal have announced that they will abstain from the elections, The Indian Express reported.

The BJD said that its decision was part of its policy of “maintaining an equal distance” from both the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA and the INDIA bloc, while BRS leader KT Rama Rao said that his party would not participate in solidarity with Telangana’s farmers amid a shortage of urea in the state.

Rao said that the Congress and the BJP had allegedly failed to address the issue.

The Shiromani Akali Dal said that it would boycott the elections in the wake of floods in Punjab.

The Election Commission had announced the polls to elect India’s next vice president on August 1.

The post fell vacant after Jagdeep Dhankar resigned on July 21 “to prioritise health care and abide by medical advice”. He had become the vice president on August 11, 2022, and his five-year term would have concluded in 2027.

Several Opposition leaders had raised questions about the timing of Dhankhar’s resignation. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that there were “far deeper reasons” behind Dhankhar’s decision.

Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan said that Dhankhar had appeared in good health on the day he resigned and that “it did not seem like there was a health issue”.

Election procedure

The vice president is chosen by the electoral college, which consists of elected as well as nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Unlike in the president’s election, state legislators do not vote.

Voting happens in the Parliament building by secret ballot. MPs rank the candidates in order of their choice.

For the current polls, the electoral college consists of 12 nominated members and 233 elected members of the Upper House, and 543 Lok Sabha MPs.