NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he does not know who will be the next vice president of India following Jagdeep Dhankhar’s unexpected resignation. However, he said it is clear that the person will be the ruling BJP’s nominee. “All we know is that it will be somebody whom the ruling party nominates, as we already know the composition of the electorate. It’s the two houses of Parliament. Unlike the Presidential election, where the state assemblies also vote. For the vice president, it’s only the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. So we already know the majority. I think it’s fairly clear that the next vice president will be the nominee of the ruling party,” Tharoor said.
He added, “We hope they consult the Opposition too, but who knows.” Dhankhar resigned on July 21. His decision came as a surprise, as he still had more than two years left in his term. He is the first sitting vice president to step down mid-term without contesting for a higher office. Earlier, V V Giri and R Venkataraman had also resigned from the post mid-term in 1969 and 1987 respectively, but both were running for the office of the President at the time. The Congress-led opposition is likely to field a joint candidate, while the BJP-led NDA has the numbers in both houses of Parliament. The election is expected to see a contest between the two sides.
