Venkaiah Naidu India's 15th Vice President

International Desk: NDA’s nominee Venkaiah Naidu was on Saturday elected as the Vice-President of India. Naidu defeated Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Opposition’s candidate. Naidu got 516 votes, while Gandhi secured 244 votes. Around 98.21% polling was recorded in the V-P elections.

Here are 10 updates on Vice Presidential Election 2017:

1.    Of the 771 votes polled today, 770 were valid and 11 invalid. 14 lawmakers were absent from voting. 90 per cent votes were polled within the first two hours, till 12 pm. Mr Naidu, who defeated Mr Gandhi with a margin of 272 votes, received more than two-third votes.

2.    Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was among the first to cast their votes in Parliament, congratulated Mr Naidu on the big win. "I am confident M Venkaiah Naidu will serve the nation as a diligent and dedicated Vice President, committed to the the goal of nation building," he tweeted.

3.    "This is a victory of the ballot, and also of free speech. The second victory belongs to all of India," Gopalkrishna Gandhi said, flanked by Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad and CPM's Sitaram Yechury.  Thanking all parliamentarians who voted for him, Mr Gandhi said "I believe the number is beyond certain calculations."

4.    Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Opposition will never compromise on ideology whether we face defeat or victory."

5.    Members of Parliament used special pens for marking their choice in the election.

6.    No whip could be issued by political parties as the election is through a secret ballot.

7.    The Electoral College which elects the Vice President, who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, consists of elected and nominated members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

8.    The total strength of the two Houses is 790, but there are two vacancies in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha. BJP MP in Lok Sabha Chhedi Paswan is barred from casting vote following a judicial pronouncement.

9.    In the 545-member Lok Sabha, the BJP has 281 members. The NDA led by BJP, has 338 members. In the 245-member Rajya Sabha, the BJP has 58 members making it the single-largest party, while the Congress has 57.

10.    In the 2007 vice presidential poll, incumbent Hamid Ansari had received 456 votes, Najma Heptullah 222 votes and Rashid Masood 75. In the 2012 polls, Mr Ansari had bagged 490 and the NDA nominee Jaswant Singh 238 votes.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Aug 5, 2017/Nasim