NEW DELHI, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Indian lawmakers Tuesday began voting to elect the country's new vice president, an official said.
The polling began at 10:00 a.m. (local time) and will go on until 5:00 in the evening.
According to officials, the counting of votes will begin after 6:00 p.m. (local time) and by nightfall, the results are expected.
The elections were necessitated following the abrupt resignation of former vice president Jagdeep Dhankar in July, citing health reasons.
His term as vice president was to expire in August 2027.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling alliance, known as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), picked the governor of the western state of Maharashtra, C. P. Radhakrishnan, as its candidate. He is contesting against B. Sudershan Reddy, a former Supreme Court judge, nominee of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, led by the opposition Congress party.
The vice president in India is elected by an electoral college, consisting of members from both houses of the Indian Parliament -- the lower house (locally called Lok Sabha) and the upper house (locally known as Rajya Sabha).
At present, the lower house of the Indian parliament has 542 members and the upper house has a strength of 239 members, making a total electorate of 781. The majority mark required to win the election is 391. ■
