New Delhi: NDA nominee and former union minister Venkaiah Naidu will take on Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the candidate put forward by the Opposition for the post of vice-president of the country. The voting is scheduled to begin at 10 am Saturday, followed by counting in the evening. While Naidu has the support of the NDA parties along with AIADMK, TRS and YSRCP, Gandhi will get the votes of MPs belonging to the Congress, RJD, JD(U), NCP, Left and other smaller parties. In the vice-presidential election, members of both Houses of Parliament will vote in a closed ballot.
10:30 am: Special pens are being given to the MPs to write their choice on the ballot papers. NDA MPs have been asked not to bring their pens for the election.
10:15 am: Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, MoS Home Kiren Rijiju, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have also cast their votes.
10:05 am: Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has also cast his vote. Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who has not vacated his Rajya Sabha seat yet, also voted.
The voting will go on till 5 in the evening. The counting will then begin and the final result will come in by 6:30-7 pm.
10 am: Naidu has now reached the Parliament complex where he will cast his vote. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also at the spot. In the presidential election, he was the first one to cast his vote.
9:50 am: We are hearing that members of both Houses are already lining up to vote in the VP election. Remember, this is a closed ballot.
9:43 am: Naidu, on his way to the voting booth in Parliament, told reporters that he was confident about his chances. “I am known to all members of Parliament & they are known to me,thats why I’m not even campaigning,” he told ANI. Naidu, who resigned from the BJP and the union cabinet, said he was a non-party man and that he believed that leaders from other parties will support him.
9:40 am: The voting will begin at 10 am. Only the members of both Houses of Parliament are allowed to vote. It will be a closed ballot. The voting is likely to take place along expected party lines. Since the NDA has a numerical majority in the Lok Sabha, the stakes are tilted towards Naidu. However, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the former governor of West Bengal, is expected to give a tough fight.
9:30 am: Welcome to the live blog where we track all the updates from the vice-presidential election happening today in Parliament. The voting and counting will take place today.
