Vice-Presidential Poll Set for September 9, Days After Dhankhar’s Resignation
Jagdeep Dhankhar stepped down on July 21; the Election Commission stated that if required, polling will take place on September 9 between 10 am and 5 pm, and counting will follow on the same day.
The election to fill the post of Vice President of India, which became vacant following Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation, will be conducted on September 9 if more than one nomination is submitted by August 21, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Friday.
According to the notification released by the poll panel, voting will be held on September 9 from 10 am to 5 pm, if needed. The counting of votes will be carried out on the same day.
As per the rules, if only one candidate files a nomination or only one valid nomination remains after scrutiny, that candidate will be declared elected unopposed.
Out of the 16 Vice-Presidential elections held so far in the country, four have been uncontested—in the years 1952, 1957, 1979, and 1987. In the 1987 poll, 27 nominations were received, but only one—Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, then Governor of Maharashtra—was found valid after scrutiny. That was the last time a Vice President was elected unopposed.
On Thursday evening, News18 had reported that the 17th Vice Presidential election would be announced shortly, as the ECI had completed finalising the list of the Electoral College.
The elections were necessitated after Dhankhar’s unexpected resignation on July 21. The Election Commission, on July 23, stated that preparations had begun to fill the post and that the election schedule would be released soon after “completion of preparatory activities.”
Although there is no fixed timeline to fill the vacancy in India’s second-highest constitutional position, the law requires that the election be conducted at the earliest opportunity.
Dhankhar was elected as the 14th Vice President in August 2022 and still had two more years remaining in his term. He became the third Vice President in Indian history to step down before completing his term. VV Giri and R. Venkataraman had earlier vacated the post mid-term to contest for the presidency. In his resignation letter, Dhankhar cited health concerns as the reason for stepping down.
The Election Procedure
The Vice-President of India is elected by an Electoral College that includes elected and nominated members of the Rajya Sabha and elected members of the Lok Sabha.
For the 2025 Vice-Presidential poll, the Electoral College comprises 233 elected members of Rajya Sabha (with five seats currently vacant), 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha, and 543 elected members of Lok Sabha (with one seat vacant). So, the total strength of the Electoral College stands at 788, with 782 members currently in place.
“Since all voters are members of both Houses of Parliament, the value of each MP’s vote will be equal to one,” the ECI clarified.
