Who is going to be the next Vice-President of India?

New Delhi: Soon after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as the Vice-President of India, speculation over his successor started doing the rounds in political circles.

Several names are being floated as Dhankhar's possible replacement. Prominent among them is Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha. Considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sinha, 66, took over as the second LG of the erstwhile state nearly five years ago, on August 7, 2020. GC Murmu was the first LG of Jammu and Kashmir after it was downgraded to a Union Territory in 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state.

Sinha was a strong contender for the post of Uttar Pradesh chief minister after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a thumping majority in the country's most politically important and populous state. However, Yogi Adityanath won the race and became the chief minister. Sinha also served as a minister in the first Modi government from 2014 to 2019.

He is said to be flying to Delhi from Srinagar on Tuesday. A picture of Sinha smiling gleefully while talking on his mobile phone during a function in Srinagar has gone viral. He also met the Prime Minister for 45 minutes on July 17.

The names of Union Health Minister and BJP chief JP Nadda, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and ex-Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad are also doing the rounds. The election of a new BJP chief in place of Nadda is also expected anytime soon.

That said, the next Vice-President will be elected through an indirect election conducted by an electoral college comprising members of both Houses of Parliament — Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated members. Unlike the Presidential election, state assemblies have no role in this process.

Voting is done by secret ballot, using the single transferable vote system of proportional representation. Members of Parliament rank candidates in order of preference. A candidate must secure the required quota of votes, calculated as (Total Valid Votes ÷ 2) + 1, to be declared elected.