India to get 16th Vice President; All you need to know about duties & responsibilities

India is going to get its new 16th Vice President as the term of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10. The Vice President of India is the second-highest constitutional office in the country. As per the Consitution of India, a citizen of India above 35 years who is qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha is eligible to be elected as Vice President. The total term is of five years and can be re-elected after the expiration of the first term.

The Vice Presidential election is currently underway. While Jagdeep Dhankhar is the NDA candidate, opposition parties backed Margaret Alva. Similar to that of the President, the Vice President is also elected by an electoral college-- both elected and nominated members of both houses of Parliament take part in the electoral college. The election results shall be declared today itself as the counting of votes will commence after voting ends. The new Vice President will be sworn in on August 11. 

Duties & responsibilities of India's Vice President

• India's Vice President is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, whose responsibilities are similar to that of the Lok Sabha speaker. 
• He is responsible for the preservation of the rights and privileges of the members of the Council of States.
• As per Article 67 of the Indian constitution, the Vice President can also take up the responsibility of the President in case of any vacancy due to resignation, death, removal, etc. While discharging the duties of the President, the Vice president can not perform the duties, and the Deputy Chairman of   Rajya sabha acts as the official chairman and presides over day-to-day sessions.
• In case of vacancy, the Vice President can act as President only for a maximum period of six months.
• When acting as President, the Vice President is entitled to the equal powers, immunities, and privileges as that of the President 
• The Vice president is not a member of the Rajya Sabha, he doesn’t have the right to vote. He can only give a “casting vote”.

 History of Vice President election

Today's Vice Presidential Election will be the sixteenth of such elections for that office. The earlier elections to this office were held in 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017. A number of Vice Presidents have been elected unopposed- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1957, 1962), Mohammad Hidayatullah (1979) and Shankar Dayal Sharma (1987). In the 2017 election, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu won 516 votes as against 244 votes secured by the joint opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. 

(Image: PTI/ANI)