NEW DELHI: The process of filing nominations for the August 5 vice presidential election began on Tuesday with the Election Commission issuing the notification. Neither the ruling NDA nor the Opposition has so far announced their candidates for the post of vice president.
The term of incumbent Hamid Ansari, who has held the post for two consecutive terms, comes to an end on August 10.The BJP believes it is in a secure position, and therefore would like to nominate one of its own members for the post. The candidate is likely to be from the south, since the top four posts of the country — president, vice-president, PM, and speaker — are all currently occupied by people from other regions.
Sources in the BJP say the NDA has the support of nearly 70 per cent of the electoral college for the post of vice-president, which includes MPs of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated ones. “We have the assured support of 550 MPs, which may further increase in the coming days,” said a senior BJP leader. Independent MPs in the Rajya Sabha and most of the nominated ones in both Houses have reached out to BJP leaders expressing support in both the presidential and vice-presidential elections. “After the Prime Minister returns from his visits abroad, there will be discussions to decide on the nominee for the vice-president’s election,” the leader added.