The vice president of India (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: ) is the deputy to the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, i.e. the

president of India The president of India ( IAST: ) 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, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

. 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 nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

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 by a ...

. The vice president is also a member of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

as the ''ex officio'' chairman of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

. Article 66 of the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

states the manner of election of the vice president. The vice president is elected indirectly by members of an electoral college 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 a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

using

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

s and the voting is conducted by

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...

via secret ballot. The vice president also acts as the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the central universities of India.

Jagdeep Dhankhar Jagdeep Dhankhar (born 18 May 1951) is an Indian politician and lawyer, who is serving as the 14th and current vice president of India, since 11 August 2022. Prior to serving in this position, he served as the Governor of West Bengal. He also ...

of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

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

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

candidate

Margaret Alva Margaret Nazareth Alva ( born 14 April 1942) is an Indian politician. Alva served as the 17th Governor of Goa, 23rd Governor of Gujarat, 20th Governor of Rajasthan and 4th Governor of Uttarakhand the until the end of her tenure in August 2014. S ...

in the

2022 Indian vice presidential election Article 56(1) of the Constitution of India provides that the Vice President of India shall remain in office for a period of five years. Consequent to the expiry of the term of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, an election to fill the office is ex ...

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 hold any office of profit. Unlike in the case of the president, where a person must be qualified for election as a member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

, 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, 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 right ...

'' 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 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, 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 The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

. 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 In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...

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: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

( 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 establis ...

. 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.

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 ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

, 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 A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. 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 Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the qualifications and disqualification ...

. 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 (IAST: ) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation w ...

and other judges of Supreme Court and High Courts per Article 124(4) and Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968.

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 Chairperson 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. ...

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 ( 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. No vice president has ever faced removal or the chairman in the Rajya Sabha cannot be challenged in any court of law per Article 122 The

can also remove the vice president for committing electoral malpractices and not fulfilling the eligibility criteria for

while in the office per Article 71(1) of the constitution. Per Article 71(1), the Supreme Court also must examine the doubts raised in connection with the conduct of a vice president and remove the vice president if found committing contempt of the Constitution.

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 a daily allowance, 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).

List of vice presidents of India

Living former vice presidents

References

External links

* {{India topics

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...