NEW DELHI: Voting for vice-presidential election on Saturday has ended in which M Venkaiah Naidu, the candidate of the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)and opposition party candidate former West Bengal Governor named Gopalkrishna Gandhi are candidate of Vice-president. Results for this election will be declared soon. The NDA, which has a majority in the Lok Sabha, will find it easy to place its candidate as the next vice president. More than 98 per cent voting took place today . First of all, Prime Minister Narendra Modi casts their votes in Parliament. Polling closed at 5pm.
Updates on Vice Presidential Election 2017:
1. 771 of 785 votes were cast when polling closed at 5 pm, registering 98.21 per cent voting. 90 per cent votes were polled within the first two hours, till 12 pm.
2. Two BJP leaders – Sanwarlal Jat and Vijay Goel – are hospitalised and could not vote, BJP leaders said. Two MPs from Kerala, whose flight was delayed, were not allowed to vote after 5 pm.
3. “I am a non-party man. Majority of the political parties are supporting me. I am confident that they will vote in the polls,” Venkaiah Naidu told reporters this morning.
4. The Biju Janata Dal and the Janta Dal (United) which had supported NDA nominee Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president, have decided to back opposition’s nominee Mr Gandhi.
5. Though the JD(U) has broken ties with ‘mahagathbandhan’ and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government in Bihar, it will vote for Mr Gandhi, a former governor of West Bengal.
6. The total strength of the two Houses is 790, but there are two vacancies in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha. BJP MP in Lok Sabha Chhedi Paswan is barred from casting vote following a judicial pronouncement.
7. In the 545-member Lok Sabha, the BJP has 281 members. The NDA led by BJP, has 338 members. In the 245-member Rajya Sabha, the BJP has 58 members making it the single-largest party, while the Congress has 57. The one who gets 50 per cent and one vote of the total valid votes cast will win the poll.
