VP election: Opposition MPs to practise with 'mock poll'

Opposition MPs would be briefed on Monday on the procedure to vote in the September 9 vice presidential polls, sources in the INDIA bloc said on Sunday.

They said a 'mock poll' would be conducted in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan at around 2:30 PM on Monday after the briefing on the procedure to vote in the vice presidential polls.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was to host a dinner for the opposition MPs as well on Monday evening but it has been cancelled in view of the flood situation in the country, the sources said.

It is a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy on September 9. Both candidates this time hail from southern India, with Radhakrishnan from Tamil Nadu and Reddy from Telangana.

The vice-presidential election has been described by the Opposition as an ideological battle, even as the numbers are stacked in favour of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, who is the returning officer for the vice-presidential election, has said that the polling will take place on Tuesday in Room No. F-101, Vasudha, Parliament House.

The polling will commence at 10 AM and close at 5 PM on September 9.

"The electoral college for election to the Office of the Vice-President of India consists of the Members of both Houses of Parliament. The nominated Members of Rajya Sabha are also eligible to be included in the Electoral College and, therefore, are entitled to participate in the election.

"The polling arrangements in Parliament House are being made by Shri P.C. Mody, the Returning Officer for the Vice-Presidential Election, 2025, and Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha," the statement from the Rajya Sabha secretariat said.

"The counting of votes will commence at 6 PM on the same day and the result will be declared immediately thereafter," it said.

While Radhakrishnan is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran from Tamil Nadu and the governor of Maharashtra currently, Reddy is a former Supreme Court judge.

Reddy (79), who retired from the apex court in July 2011, is a veteran jurist known for several landmark judgments criticising the then Union government for showing slackness in probing black-money cases. He had also declared Salwa Judum, appointed by the Chhattisgarh government to fight Naxals, as unconstitutional.

As an apex court judge, Reddy ordered the formation of a special investigation team to take all steps for bringing back unaccounted monies unlawfully kept in bank accounts abroad.

For the 17th vice-presidential election, the electoral college consists of 233 elected members of the Rajya Sabha (five seats are currently vacant), 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and 543 elected members of the Lok Sabha (one seat is currently vacant).

The electoral college comprises a total of 788 members (781 presently).

The Congress-led opposition is projecting Reddy as a consistent and courageous champion of social, economic and political justice. Reddy has had a long and eminent legal career, including as a judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the chief justice of the Gauhati High Court and a judge of the Supreme Court. He also led the committee that undertook the caste survey in Telangana.