Dhankhar's exit: Rajya Sabha secretary general appointed returning officer for vice presidential poll

New Delhi: The process to announce the schedule for Vice Presidential gathered pace with the Election Commission on Friday appointed Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody as the returning officer for the poll.

The election was necessitated after Jagdeep Dhankhar's dramatic resignation on Monday night citing health concerns, two years and 20 days before his tenure was to end.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the resignation on Tuesday, following which the EC initiated the process for the election to the second highest Constitution post.

The Election Commission, in consultation with the Ministry of Law and Justice and with the consent of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, has appointed the Rajya Sabha Secretary General as Returning Officer for the Vice Presidential Election, a statement by the poll body said.

Rajya Sabha Joint Garima Jain and Director Vijay Kumar have also been appointed Assistant Returning Officers.

According to Article 324, the EC is mandated to conduct the election to the office of the Vice President of India. The election to the office of the Vice President is governed by The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952 and the rules made thereunder, namely The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974.

Under Section 3 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, the Election Commission, in consultation with the Central Government, appoints a Returning Officer, who shall have his office in New Delhi, and may also appoint one or more Assistant Returning Officers.

According to convention, either the Lok Sabha Secretary General or his Rajya Sabha counterpart is appointed as returning officer by rotation. In the last vice presidential election, Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh was the returning officer.

On Wednesday, the EC said it has started constituting the electoral college comprising MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including 12 nominated members. While the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha can have 788 members, there are five vacancies -- five in Jammu and Kashmir and one in Haryana -- in Rajya Sabha and one in Lok Sabha -- Basirhat.

For electing a successor to a Vice President who is completing his term, the rules say poll should be held within 60 days of the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing Vice-President. The Constitution does not put a specific time-frame in case of death, resignation or removal but says that the election should be held "as soon as possible".

The polling should be completed within 30 days of notification being issued, "calling the electoral college to vote", and till the day of the poll, a period of 30 days is stipulated.