The vice president of India (

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

: ) is the deputy to the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

of the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

, i.e. the

president of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of importance applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. For individuals, it is most often used for diplomats in attendance at very formal occasions. It can also be used in the context of ...

and first in the line of succession to the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

. The vice president is also the ''ex officio'' chairman of the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

. Article 66 of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

states the manner of election of the vice president. The vice president is elected indirectly by members of an

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament and not the members of state legislative assembly by the system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

using

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

s and the voting is conducted by

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

via secret ballot. The vice president also acts as the

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the Panjab University and Delhi University.

Jagdeep Dhankhar Jagdeep Dhankhar (; born 18 May 1951) is an Indian politician and lawyer serving as the vice president of India since 2022. He previously served as the List of governors of West Bengal, Governor of West Bengal from 2019 to 2022. He also serve ...

of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

is the current vice president. He became vice president after defeating

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

candidate

Margaret Alva Margaret Nazareth Alva (born 14 April 1942) is an Indian politician. She served as the 17th Governor of Goa, 23rd Governor of Gujarat, 19th Governor of Rajasthan and 4th Governor of Uttarakhand at various times between 2009 and 2014. She has ...

in the

2022 Indian vice presidential election The election for the 14th vice president of India was held on 6 August 2022. The announcement was made by the Election Commission of India. Article 67 of the Constitution of India provides that the vice president of India shall remain in office ...

Election, oath and term

Qualifications

As in the case of the president, to be qualified to be elected as vice president, a person must: * Be a citizen of India. * Be at least 35 years of age. * Not to be hold any office of profit. * Not necessary to be an MP but should be eligible for Rajya Sabha seat Unlike in the case of the speaker, where a person is a member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

, the vice president must be qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha. This difference is because the vice president is to act as the ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' chairman of the Rajya Sabha. At a time the vice president acts in either of two capacities (i.e. chairman of the Rajya Sabha or vice president of India); he cannot act in both offices simultaneously.

Election

The vice president is elected indirectly, by an electoral college consisting of members (elected as well as nominated) of both Houses of Parliament (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha), by the system of proportional representation using single transferable votes and the voting is by secret ballot. The election of the vice president is slightly different from the election of the president as the members of state legislatures are not part of the electoral college but the nominated members of Rajya Sabha are part of it. The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the vice president must be subscribed by at least 20 electors as proposers and 20 electors as seconders. Every candidate has to make a security deposit of in the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

. The

, which is a constitutional autonomous body, conducts the election. The election is to be held no later than 60 days of the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing vice president. A returning officer is appointed for the election, usually the secretary-general of either House of Parliament, by rotation. The returning officer issues a public notice of the intended election, inviting nomination of candidates. Any person qualified to be elected and intending to stand for election is required to be nominated by at least twenty members of Parliament as proposers, and at least twenty other members of Parliament as seconders. The nomination papers are scrutinized by the returning officer, and the names of all eligible candidates are added to the ballot. The election is held via

using single transferable votes by secret ballot. Voters stack-rank the candidates, assigning 1 to their first preference, 2 to their second preference, and so on. The number of votes required by a candidate to secure the election is calculated by dividing the total number of valid cast votes by two and adding one to the quotient by disregarding any remainder. If no candidate obtains the required number of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated and his or her second-preference votes are transferred. The process is repeated until a candidate obtains the requisite number of votes. Nominated members can also participate in the election. After the election has been held and the votes counted, the returning officer declares the result of the election to the electoral college. Thereafter, the returning officer reports the result to the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

( Ministry of Law and Justice) and the Election Commission of India, and the government publishes the name of the person elected as vice president, in the

Official Gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establish ...

. The vice president may resign office by submitting a letter of resignation to the president. The resignation becomes effective from the day it is accepted. If the Vice president resigns then the vacant post has to be filled as soon as possible whereas in the case of President, election has to be held within 6 months.

Election disputes

All disputes arising in connection with the election of the vice president are petitioned to the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

, which inquires into the matter. The petition is heard by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court, which decides on the matter. The decision of the Supreme Court is final. The

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

inquires into and decides upon all ''doubts'' and ''disputes'' arising out of or in connection with the election of the vice president per Article 71(1) of the constitution. The Supreme Court can remove the vice president for committing electoral malpractices or upon being ineligible to be a Rajya Sabha member under the

Representation of the People Act, 1951 The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the conduct of election of the Parliament of India, Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Vidhan Sabha, Legislature of each State, the ...

. Subject to Article 71 (3), Parliament has made applicable rules or procedure to petition the Supreme Court for resolving the ''disputes'' that arise only during the election process of the vice president but not the ''doubts'' that arise from his unconstitutional actions or deeds or changing citizenship during his tenure which may violate the requisite election qualifications. The Supreme Court shall also expeditiously decide any doubt raised by which the elected vice president could be ineligible to be a Rajya Sabha member for the unconstitutional acts committed before becoming vice president. Under Article 71(1), it is the responsibility of the Supreme Court to inquire and decide about the so-called unconstitutional acts committed by the vice president such as turning down the notice of the Rajya Sabha members to impeach the

chief justice of India The chief justice of India (CJI) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the President of India to appoint, as recommended by the outg ...

and other judges of Supreme Court and High Courts per Article 124(4) and Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 or allowing a bill passed under simple majority instead of procedure applicable to constitutional amendment or falsely declaring a bill passed.

Oath or affirmation

Article 69 of the Constitution of India provides for the oath or affirmation for the office of vice president as follows:-
"I, A.B., do swear in the name of God /solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established and that I will discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter."
The president administers the oath of office and secrecy to the vice president.

Term

The vice president holds office for five years. The vice president can be re-elected any number of times. However, the office may be terminated earlier by death, resignation, or removal. The Constitution does not provide a mechanism of succession to the office of vice president in the event of an extraordinary vacancy, apart from re-election. However, the

deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (IAST: ) presides over the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha in the absence of the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (vice president of India). The deputy chairperson is elected internally by the Rajya Sabha. L ...

can perform the vice president's duties as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha in such an event. However, when the president dies in office and vice president takes over as president, the vice president can continue serving as the president for a maximum of 6 months within which a new president shall be elected.

Removal

The Constitution states that the vice president can be removed by a resolution of the

passed by an effective majority (majority of all the then members) and agreed by the

with a

simple majority Simple majority may refer to: * Majority, a voting requirement of more than half of all votes cast * Plurality (voting), a voting requirement of more votes cast for a proposition than for any other option * First-past-the-post voting, the single-win ...

( Article 67(b)). But no such resolution may be moved unless at least 14 days notice in advance has been given. Notably, the Constitution does not list grounds for removal. The removal of chairman in the Rajya Sabha cannot be challenged in any court of law per Article 122. Before Jagdeep Dhankhar no vice president has ever faced removal, although the motion for removal of Jagdeep Dhankhar was not accepted in the Rajya Sabha. The

can inquire into and decide on the disputes related to election of the vice president as per Article 71(1) of the constitution. However, the constitution does not mention any specific ground on which the vice president can be removed.

Salary and pension

There is no provision for the salary of the vice president of India in that capacity. The vice president receives a salary in the capacity of the ''ex officio'' chairman of the Rajya Sabha, which is currently per month (revised from 125,000 in 2018). In addition, the vice president is entitled to free furnished residence, medical, travel, and other facilities. The constitution provides that when the vice president acts as the president or discharges the duties of the president, the vice president is entitled to the salary and privileges of the president. The pension for the vice president is 50% of the salary. In fact, he is the only official who does not get any salary and emoluments of his designated post (i.e. vice president).

References

External links

* {{India topics

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...