Vice Presidential polls: TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay writes to Sisir Adhikari, asks him to not cast his vote

Vice Presidential polls: TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay writes to Sisir Adhikari, asks him to not cast his vote

In his letter dated August 4, which surfaced on the internet today, Bandyopadhyay asks Adhikari to abstain from voting as decided by all the TMC MPs in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

AgenciesUpdated: Saturday, August 06, 2022, 01:09 PM IST
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Vice Presidential polls: TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay writes to Sisir Adhikari, asks him to not cast his vote | ANI

Polling to elect the next Vice President of India began at 10 am, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being among the first ones to vote.

The polling will continue till 5 pm, following which the counting of ballots will take place.

As the polls are underway, Trinamool Congress' leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay's letter to TMC MP Sisir Adhikari came forward. In his letter dated August 4, which surfaced on the internet today, Bandyopadhyay asks Adhikari to abstain from voting as decided by all the TMC MPs in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

Mamata Banerjee had earlier announced that TMC will not vote as the Opposition fielded Margaret Alva as candidate without consulting her.

Meanwhile, visuals showed Margaret Alva arriving at the Parliament.

Vice Presidential Polls: Everything you need to know

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar (71) is pitted against joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva (80).

With the ruling BJP having an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and 91 members in the Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar has a clear edge over his rival. He is likely to succeed incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu, whose tenure ends on August 10.

All MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, are entitled to vote in the vice presidential election.

The two Houses of Parliament together have a sanctioned strength of 788 MPs, of which there are eight vacancies in the Upper House.

Hence, 780 MPs are eligible to cast their ballot in this election.

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