Vice-Presidential Election and Party Politics

In India's parliamentary framework, it is essential to elect both the President and the Vice President. The President acts on the advice of the Union Cabinet, whereas the Vice President plays an active role in parliamentary proceedings. Upon election, the Vice President assumes the role of Speaker or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. A notable feature of the Indian Constitution is that it empowers Parliament to investigate even the highest office holders. The Vice President election is scheduled for 9 September, following Mr. Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation on 21 July.

The interest of the general public in the elections for the posts of President and Vice President in India started in 1967 when Congress candidate Dr. Zakir Hussain contested the presidential election that year. He was also the outgoing Vice President then. The Congress Party suffered a huge setback in the 1967 general elections. Non-Congress governments had been formed in nine states of the country and the party had received a majority of only 20 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Then, the joint opposition fielded retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr. Koka Subbarao, against Dr. Zakir Hussain. There was a tough fight between the two, but Dr. Hussain emerged victorious.

In the same year, the election for the post of Vice President was also held in which the labour leader Mr. V.V. Giri was successful. The opposition parties, especially the right-wing and centrist parties like Jan Sangh, Swatantra Party and Samyukta Socialist Party, etc. supported Mr. Koka Subbarao, while the leftist parties fielded their own separate candidate. Although we are talking about the Vice President, it is important to mention the presidential election because till then the elections for both the posts were held almost simultaneously. But due to the death of Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1969, the presidential election had to be held five years earlier. This presidential election was such that it was being discussed intensely in every village and town of India. The reason for this was that the then Prime Minister, late Indira Gandhi had called upon the MPs and MLAs of all parties, including the Congress, to vote as per the voice of their conscience. This election was held between late Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and V.V. Giri.In India's parliamentary system, the election of both the President and the Vice President is mandatory. While the President is bound by the advice of the Union Cabinet, the Vice President is directly involved in the proceedings of the Parliament. The Vice President becomes the Speaker or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from the moment he is elected. The beauty of the Constitution of India is that it gives the Parliament the right to investigate even the highest post holder. Currently, the election for the post of Vice President will be held on 9 September. The election was needed because on 21 July, Mr. Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from his post.

The interest of the general public in the elections for the posts of President and Vice President in India started in 1967 when Congress candidate Dr. Zakir Hussain contested the presidential election that year. He was also the outgoing Vice President then. The Congress Party suffered a huge setback in the 1967 general elections. Non-Congress governments had been formed in nine states of the country and the party had received a majority of only 20 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Then, the joint opposition fielded retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Mr. Koka Subbarao, against Dr. Zakir Hussain. There was a tough fight between the two, but Dr. Hussain emerged victorious.

In the same year, the election for the post of Vice President was also held in which the labour leader Mr. V.V. Giri was successful. The opposition parties, especially the right-wing and centrist parties like Jan Sangh, Swatantra Party and Samyukta Socialist Party, etc. supported Mr. Koka Subbarao, while the leftist parties fielded their own separate candidate. Although we are talking about the Vice President, it is important to mention the presidential election because till then the elections for both the posts were held almost simultaneously. But due to the death of Dr. Zakir Hussain in 1969, the presidential election had to be held five years earlier. This presidential election was such that it was being discussed intensely in every village and town of India. The reason for this was that the then Prime Minister, late Indira Gandhi had called upon the MPs and MLAs of all parties, including the Congress, to vote as per the voice of their conscience. This election was held between late Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and V.V. Giri.

In the presidential election, the legislators of each state and the members of both the houses of the parliament vote. Whereas in the election of the vice-president, only the members of both the houses vote. The candidate of the party which is in power at the centre usually wins. Till now it has been the case that the candidate of the ruling party has been elected as the vice-president. Unopposed elections have also been held for the post of vice-president. In the first election of 1952, Sarvepalli Dr. Radhakrishnan was elected unopposed. The reason for this was that there was a discrepancy in the nomination papers of the person who was fielded by the opposition parties against him. The second vice-president was late M. Hidayatullah who was elected in 1977. He was a retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In the Lok Sabha elections held this year, the Congress party had faced a great defeat for the first time.

The 5-member party Janata Party had won these elections with a good majority. Hidayatullah was the candidate of this party and the Congress had not fielded any candidate against him. Actually, the Indian public lacks curiosity about the election of the Vice President because the voter base for this election is limited to the Parliament only. In the Vice President election, only all the MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (including nominated MPs) cast their votes. Therefore, the public already reaches the conclusion that the candidate of the party or alliance which has the highest number of MPs will win. But it is not necessary that the party which has the highest number of MPs in the Lok Sabha will also have the highest number of MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

Secondly, in these elections, the party cannot force its MPs to vote for its candidate only. Because in these elections, no party can issue a whip or warning. Due to this, the curiosity of political pundits remains till the results are declared because many times, MPs leave their party attachment and vote for another candidate as well. Voting is kept completely secret and the value of every voter's vote is equal to one vote and he can cast his vote according to his preference after seeing the number of candidates. Voters also give their first, second and third preference in this election. The preference is decided by looking at the number of candidates. The Election Commission of India conducts this election and states that to win, one vote more than half of the total number of MPs is enough to get victory.

There are a total of 545 MPs in Lok Sabha and 245 MPs in Rajya Sabha. But currently some seats are lying vacant, so the Election Commission decides the winning point by looking at the numbers. This time, the ruling party has fielded its party's seasoned leader Shri C.P. Radhakrishnan as its candidate for the Vice Presidential election. BJP has a total of 240 MPs in Lok Sabha, while its alliance partners JD (U) and Telugu Desam together make this number 293, while on the other hand, the number of Lok Sabha MPs of the Congress-led India Alliance is close to 240. Retired Supreme Court judge Shri B. Sudarshan Reddy has been made the candidate from this alliance. The number of members of BJP and its alliance NDA in Rajya Sabha is more than that of India Alliance. Looking at this equation, it can be said that victory should be of Shri Radhakrishnan. But the opposition parties are hoping that some MPs may leave their camp and join their camp. This seems very unlikely because the Vice Presidential election was held in 2002 when the Vajpayee government of the BJP-led coalition was in power. This Vice Presidential election is considered to be the most interesting election in the history of independent India because Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde stood on behalf of the opposition coalition UPA and Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was the candidate from the NDA.

The biggest beauty of this was that Shekhawat was a constable in the Rajasthan Police in his youth and Shri Shinde was an orderly in the court of Maharashtra. Both the leaders rose from the grassroots to shine in politics. Shri Shekhawat was the winner but the political activities made it very interesting which also attracted the attention of the common voters of India. But the current elections are also not going to be less interesting because while Shri Radhakrishnan is a highly educated RSS volunteer, Shri Reddy is being called a supporter of progressive ideas in the judiciary. Although there are many complications in every election, but in the election of the Vice President, everything matters - the loyalty of the members towards their party.