EC notifies vice presidential poll; 3 submit nominations, papers rejected
New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI): The Election Commission on Thursday issued a notification for the September 9 vice presidential poll, kickstarting the exercise to elect Jagdeep Dhankhar's successor.
Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, the returning officer for the election, received three nomination papers, which were rejected for not being in order.
According to the notification, August 21 is the last date for filing nominations and the documents will be scrutinised on August 22.
The last date for the withdrawal of nominations is August 25.
The vice presidential poll was necessitated following the surprise resignation of Dhankhar on July 21, citing health reasons. His term was to end in August 2027.
The ruling BJP-led NDA has begun internal consultations for fielding candidates for the vice presidential election.
The NDA has authorised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda to pick the ruling bloc's vice presidential candidate,
According to constitutional provisions, in case of a mid-term poll, the incumbent gets a full five-year term.
A person cannot be elected as the vice president unless he is a citizen of India, has completed 35 years of age and is qualified for election as a member of Rajya Sabha.
A person is also not eligible if he holds any office of profit under the government of India or a state government or any subordinate local authority.
The ruling NDA has a comfortable edge in the vice presidential elections.
The vice president is elected by the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, with nominated members of the Upper House also eligible to vote.
The 543-member Lok Sabha has one vacant seat -- Basirhat in West Bengal -- while there are six vacancies in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.
Of the six vacancies in Rajya Sabha, four are from Jammu and Kashmir, and one each from Punjab and Jharkhand. The seat from Punjab fell vacant after AAP leader Sanjeev Arora quit following his election to the state assembly in a byelection last month.
The demise of JMM leader Shibu Soren has created a fresh vacancy in the Upper House from Jharkhand.
The effective strength of both the Houses together is 781 and the winning candidate will require 391 votes, considering that all eligible voters exercise their franchise.
In Lok Sabha, the BJP-led NDA enjoys the support of 293 of the 542 members. The ruling alliance has the support of 129 members in Rajya Sabha, which has an effective strength of 240, assuming that the nominated members vote in support of the NDA nominee.
Thus, the ruling alliance has the support of around 422 members.
Article 66 (1) of the Constitution provides that the vice presidential election shall be held in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation by means of the single transferable vote, and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot.
In this system, the elector has to mark preferences against the names of the candidates.
The vice president is the second-highest constitutional office in the country. He serves for a five-year term, but can continue to be in office, irrespective of the expiry of the term, until the successor assumes office.
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Riyan Parag likely to be fined 25 percent of match fees for vaping inside dressing room
New Delhi (PTI): Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag is set to be fined 25 per cent of his match fee for bringing the game into "disrepute" after being caught vaping on camera during the IPL game against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur.
Parag's actions during the Royals' chase on Tuesday night drew condemnation on social media.
PTI has learned that on field umpires Tanmay Srivastava and Nitin Menon had not reported the matter to match referee Amit Sharma right after the game. They only did that after seeing visual proof and Sharma found Parag guilty for a code of conduct breach as per the IPL guidelines.
The Level 1 offences carries 25 per cent deduction from match fees and one demerit point.
"He is set to be fined a portion of his match fees and a demerit point for a Level 1 offence," said an IPL source.
The Indian government had banned e-cigarettes back in 2019, prohibiting their production, sale and distribution. As per the law, the offender faces imprisonment up to one year and/or a Rs one lakh fine for a first time offence.
"Article 2.21 of IPL Code of Conduct is intended to cover all types of conduct that bring the game into disrepute and which is not specifically and adequately covered by the specific offences set out elsewhere in this Code of Conduct, including Article 2.20," the IPL Code of Conduct states.
"By way of example, Article 2.21 may (depending upon the seriousness and context of the breach) prohibit, without limitation, the following: (a) public acts of misconduct; (b) unruly public behaviour; and (c) inappropriate comments which are detrimental to the interests of the game.
"When assessing the seriousness of the offence, the context of the particular situation, and whether it was deliberate, reckless, negligent, avoidable and/or accidental, shall be considered.
"Further, the person lodging the Report shall determine where on the range of severity the conduct lays (with the range of severity starting at conduct of a minor nature (and hence a Level 1 Offence) up to conduct of an extremely serious nature (and hence a Level 4 Offence)."
Since it is a Level 1 offence there was no need for a hearing.
Parag, who has not had the best of times with the bat this IPL, was seen inhaling an e-cigarette, also known as vaping, in the dressing room during the live broadcast of their game against Punjab Kings. Royals won the game to end Kings' unbeaten run in the tournament.
This is not the first controversy to hit the Royals this season. Earlier this month, team manager Romi Bhinder was fined Rs one lakh for breaching PMOA protocol after being found using his phone in the dugout.
IPL and BCCI officials involved in the conduct of the IPL termed it as a careless act in the age of social media and prying TV cameras.
Royals next host Delhi Capitals at home on Friday night.
