Election of the Vice-President

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: Article 66 · Topic: Union Executive: President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Executive"

Meaning

Under Art. 66, the Vice-President is chosen by an electoral college (a special group of voters) made up of all members of both Houses of Parliament, elected and nominated. State legislators take no part. Voting is by proportional representation by single transferable vote: voters rank the candidates, and votes move to the next choice until someone reaches the quota. Voting is by secret ballot. Every vote has the same value. The 11th Amendment (1961) replaced the original joint meeting of the two Houses with this electoral college.

Example

On 9 September 2025, after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned, C.P. Radhakrishnan beat B. Sudershan Reddy by 452 votes to 300. Of 781 electors, 767 voted.

Don't confuse with

  • Election of the President: only elected MPs and elected MLAs (of the states, Delhi and Puducherry) vote, and votes have different values. In the Vice-President's election, nominated MPs also vote, MLAs do not, and all votes are equal.

Related concepts

Read more