NEW DELHI, Aug 16 — The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) parliamentary board will meet on Sunday evening to select its candidate for the upcoming Vice-Presidential election, scheduled for September 9.
The meeting, set to take place at BJP headquarters around 6 p.m., is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president J.P. Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders. Chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and their deputies are also likely to take part in the deliberations.
The election was necessitated after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar stepped down on July 21 citing health concerns. With the nomination process already underway, the party leadership is under pressure to finalise a consensus name before the filing deadline of August 21. Scrutiny of papers will be held on August 22, while withdrawals are allowed until August 25.
Party insiders said the BJP is considering a range of names including current governors, senior parliamentarians and veteran leaders. Among those in circulation are Delhi Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot, Sikkim Governor Om Mathur, Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, RSS ideologue Seshadri Chari and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has authorised Modi and Nadda to steer the final choice, which will then be announced formally after the parliamentary board’s approval.
The Election Commission has said polling for the Vice-President will be held in Parliament House on September 9 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. This will be the first mid-term Vice-Presidential election since 1987.
