Previous Year Question

The Vice-President of India is elected by an Electoral College consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament—the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. This is expressly provided under Article 66(1) of the Constitution. Therefore, Statements 1 and 2 are correct, whereas Statements 3 and 4 are incorrect.

An important point is that all members of the two Houses of Parliament participate in the Vice-Presidential election. This includes nominated members as well as elected members. Members of State Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils do not form part of the Vice-Presidential Electoral College.

This creates an important distinction between the election of the President and the Vice-President. In the Presidential election, only elected Members of Parliament and elected members of State Legislative Assemblies participate; in the Vice-Presidential election, State Legislatures have no role.

The Vice-President is elected according to the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote, and voting is conducted by secret ballot. The value of the vote of each elector is equal.

A useful targeted fact is that political parties cannot bind their MPs to vote for a particular candidate in a Vice-Presidential election in the manner of an ordinary parliamentary division, because the election is conducted by secret ballot.

Thus—

Members of Lok Sabha ✓
Members of Rajya Sabha ✓
Members of Legislative Assemblies ✗
Members of Legislative Councils ✗