Vice Presidential election: NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankar looks assured of victory

The NDA's nominee for the post of Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankar, is set for a comfortable victory against Opposition nominee Margaret Alva in Saturday's election.

788 members from both Houses of Parliament are set to vote for the next Vice President, with each vote valued at one point.

Dhankhar attended a meeting of NDA MPs who were given a presentation, including a mock voting session, to ensure that no vote is invalidated.


Opposition candidate Alva is likely to receive around 200 votes, while her rival could potentially get 500+, with the YSRCP, BJD, TDP, BSP, AIADMK and Shiv Sena extending their support to the NDA candidate.

Alva's number will decrease, thanks to cracks in opposition unity as TMC, with 39 MPs, has decided to abstain from voting alleging lack of consultations while deciding on the nominee. She, however, received the backing of TRS on Friday, two days after AAP and JMM lent support to her. AIMIM has also extended its support to Alva.

Meanwhile, Dhankhar met a number of BJP MPs at his residence on Friday, including Sushil Kumar Modi, Gautam Gambhir, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Pradeep Choudhary and Kartikeya Sharma.

Polling will be held from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and ballots will be counted immediately after that. By late Saturday evening, the returning officer is likely to announce the name of the next VP.

With inputs from TOI