Vice-Presidential Elections 2022: PM Narendra Modi, Manmohan Singh cast votes at Parliament House

Polling for the Vice Presidential election began on Saturday (August 6, 2022) at 10 am and will continue till 5 pm. All MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, are entitled to vote in the vice presidential election. The counting of votes in Vice-Presidential Elections, in which NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankar is expected to sail through with BJP support alone and opposition's Margaret Alva looks set to be a very distant second, will take place today itself.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former PM Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were among the first ones to cast vote.

With the ruling BJP having an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and 91 members in the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar has a clear edge over his rival.

The next Vice-President of the country will take the oath of office on August 11, a day after the term of the incumbent Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu ends.

The vice president of India, which is the second-highest constitutional post in the country, is elected through an electoral college consisting of members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, Janata Dal (United), YSRCP, BSP, AIADMK and Shiv Sena have expressed their support for Dhankar. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) have expressed their support to Alva.

The Trinamool Congress has said that is abstaining from the voteOn July 18, Dhankhar filed his nomination papers before Returning Officer and Secretary General, Lok Sabha in the Parliament House.

In 2017, the NDA nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and his term ends on August 10, 2022.