The process for the selection of the 15th Vice President has begun. If the circumstances are favorable, the Vice President will be selected by the end of August, but the role of Jammu and Kashmir in his election will be limited. Only five Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir will be able to vote for the new Vice President, while despite having four seats in the Rajya Sabha, no Rajya Sabha member from Jammu and Kashmir will be able to vote. All four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir’s quota are vacant. It is noteworthy that Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on July 21 citing health reasons, leaving a vacancy during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. Just two days later, the Election Commission of India started the process of electing his successor.
According to Articles 63 to 71 of the Constitution and the Vice President (Election) Rules, 1974, the Vice President is elected by an electoral college consisting of 788 members of both the Houses of Parliament – 543 from the Lok Sabha and 245 from the Rajya Sabha. However, due to the existing vacancies, only 782 members will contest this election. With one Lok Sabha and five Rajya Sabha seats vacant, the winning candidate will need 392 votes. Of the five vacant Rajya Sabha seats, four are from Jammu and Kashmir and one from Punjab, which fell vacant after Sanjeev Arora moved to the Assembly.
Despite the first assembly elections in more than six years in 2023, four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir remain vacant. The 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is responsible for electing these members, yet the Election Commission has not started the process to fill the vacancies.
Though bypolls were announced for Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal in May, no date has been fixed for the Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir or for the Budgam and Nagrota assembly constituencies.