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Jagdeep Dhankhar Resigns: What's Next, Who'll Chair Rajya Sabha, When Is The Next VP Election?

Jagdeep Dhankhar Resigns: What's Next, Who'll Chair Rajya Sabha, When Is The Next VP Election?

News186 days ago
Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar Resignation: VP Dhankhar resigned from his position on Monday, citing his health reasons.
As Jagdeep Dhankhar suddenly resigned as the Vice President of India on Monday evening, Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha will step in as the Acting Chairperson of the Upper House of Parliament, as per the rules of the Constitution.
Currently, the position is held by Harivansh Narayan Singh, who was appointed in August 2022. He will fulfil the role temporarily until the election of the next Vice President of India. According to the Constitution, the Vice President is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
What's Next After Jagdeep Dhankhar's Resignation?
Process of Election Of Vice President
A formal election to fill the vacancy must be held within 60 days of the resignation. The electorate comprises all members of both Houses of Parliament, using a proportional representation system via single transferable vote.
The election of the Vice President must be held before September 19, 2025. The MPs will cast a single transferable vote with a secret ballot. A Returning Officer is appointed to oversee the process. Only Members of Parliament (MPs) can vote in the election of the Vice President – both from: Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House), including nominated members.
The Members of the State Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) do not vote to elect the Vice President.
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Clearing the air on ‘citizenship' in Bihar poll roll revision
Clearing the air on ‘citizenship' in Bihar poll roll revision

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It is fundamental that unless a person is a citizen of India he cannot be an elector. Consequently, he cannot become a legislator also. Therefore, it is very surprising that some seasoned politicians have raised objections to the Election Commission of India (ECI)'s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar (where Assembly elections are expected shortly) that citizenship should not be verified. It only demonstrates that they have absolutely no knowledge of the Constitution and the working of the system. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the 'superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of Electoral roll and the conduct of all elections ... shall vest' in the Election Commission. The preparation of electoral rolls is a continuous process, and is revised from time to time irrespective of there being elections or no elections (Lakshmi Charan Sen and Ors Etc vs A.K.M. Hassan Uzzaman and Ors. Etc., AIR 1985 SC 1233). Clarity on being a citizen Article 326 of the Constitution of India provides that 'the Elections to the House of People and the Legislature of every State shall be on the basis of adult suffrage, that is to say, every person who is a citizen of India and who is not less than 18 years of age in such State, as may be fixed in that behalf, by or under any law made by the appropriate legislature and is not otherwise disqualified under this Constitution or any Law made by the appropriate Legislature' on certain grounds. Therefore, it is clear that unless a person is a citizen of India, he is not entitled to be registered as a voter in any election. Pursuant to the enabling provisions, Parliament enacted The Representation of The People Act, 1950, which deals with the preparation of electoral rolls and delimitation. The Preamble to the 1950 Act reads as follows: 'An Act to provide the allocation of seats in, and the delimitation of constituencies for the purpose of election to, the House of the People and the Legislatures of States, the qualifications of voters at such elections, the preparation of electoral rolls, the manner of filling seats in the Council of States to be filled by representatives of Union territories, and matters connected therewith.' Part-IIA of the 1950 Act deals with the Officers of the Commission which includes Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers. Part-IIB deals with Electoral Rolls for Parliamentary Constituencies and Part-III deals with Electoral Rolls for Assembly constituencies. Section 15 of the 1950 Act deals with preparation of Electoral Rolls for every Constituency under the superintendence, direction and control of the Election Commission. Section 16 of the 1950 Act deals with disqualifications for registration in an Electoral Roll, and in specific, Section 16(1)(a) provides that if a person is not a Citizen of India, he shall be disqualified for being registered as a voter. Further, Section 16(2) provides that the name of the person who is so disqualified, even if registered, shall be struck off from the electoral rolls. Besides this, Section 20 of the 1950 Act also provides who is 'ordinarily resident' in a constituency. Section 21 deals with preparation and revision of electoral rolls, while Section 22 deals with correction of entries in electoral rolls. Section 23 deals with the inclusion of names in electoral rolls, and Section 24 provides that if anybody is aggrieved by an order of inclusion or exclusion, they can prefer an appeal to the authority referred to in the Section. 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time42 minutes ago

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