INDIA Bloc To Put Up Candidate For Vice Presidential Election
Both the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc are yet to firm up their candidates for the Vice Presidential election.
Published : August 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM IST
New Delhi: The INDIA bloc started shifting gears for the September 9 vice-presidential election, indicating the opposition group was in no mood to give the NDA nominee a free run.
That the contest was around the corner following the sudden resignation of former vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21 had been anticipated in the political circles, but the ball started rolling on Friday with the Election Commission announcing the schedule. The last date for nomination is Aug 21, and for withdrawal, Aug 25. Voting will take place on September 9, and the votes will be counted the same day.
Both the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc are yet to firm up their candidates for the same. The announcements from both camps are expected over the coming days.
However, discussions have started within the Congress, the main opposition party, which will coordinate the strategy for the vice-presidential election along with the member parties. The BJP will play the same role in the ruling NDA, of which the JD-U and the TDP are key partners.
According to Congress insiders, the INDIA bloc leaders, who have been giving the government a tough time by demanding a debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and the controversial Bihar voter list revision since the monsoon session started July 21, will soon meet to discuss the vice-presidential nominee.
“Of course, we must and we will put up our candidate. Why should the NDA candidate get the advantage? The INDIA bloc members will soon discuss the issue. There is no way we can let this opportunity go,” Congress Lok Sabha member Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka told ETV Bharat.
The Congress leader noted that, besides being a regular contest for the constitutional post, the vice-presidential election is taking place in the backdrop of the manner in which the former vice president resigned, citing health reasons on July 21, the first day of the ongoing monsoon session of parliament.
The grand old party had later claimed that differences between the Centre and Dhankhar over the impeachment of sitting high court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, allegedly in a corruption case, were closely linked to the former vice president’s resignation. Dhankhar had a little more than two years ahead of the end of his tenure, which was to end on August 10, 2027.
“The resignation raised several questions and showed a rift within the ruling party and the Centre. It is yet not clear whether Dhankhar resigned as he was upset over something or he was forced to do so by the saffron party leadership,” said Ulaka.
According to Congress insiders, the NDA seems to have the numbers in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, but the INDIA block was also close. They further said that the nine BJD members in the Rajya Sabha and the 12 JD-U and 16 TDP members in the Lok Sabha could give some trouble to the saffron party if the opposition was able to put up a strong candidate.
“The BJD is an independent party. We are neither with the NDA nor with the INDIA bloc. We will take a call on the vice-presidential elections as per the directions of our leadership. But I can say that this election is going to give a tough time to the BJP. The other regional parties, too, would evaluate their stand carefully,” BJD Rajya Sabha member Subhasish Khuntia said.
As per the rules, the elected members and nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and the elected members of the Lok Sabha will vote in the vice-presidential poll. The 543 members of the Lok Sabha and the 245 members of the Rajya Sabha vote for the vice-presidential poll. Due to the vacancies in both houses, a total of 782 lawmakers would take part in the voting. In the lower house, the NDA has 293 members while the INDIA bloc has 232 members. In the upper house, the NDA has 133 members while the INDIA block has 107.
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