Vice-President of India

Posted by on Jan 17, 2009 in India

The Vice-President of India is the second-highest ranking official after the President in the Government of India. The main duty of the Vice-President is to preside over the meetings of the Rajya Sabha (which is the upper house of the Indian Parliament) as a Chairman. The Vice-President of India takes over as the President in the case of death, resignation or removal of the actual President. He/She can also step in as an Acting President during the absence or illness of the President. The current Vice-President of India is Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

Election of the Vice-President of India

The Vice-President of India is elected by an electoral college that consists of the Members of the Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) unlike the Election of the President which also involves the Members of State Legislatures along with the Members of the Parliament. The Vice-President is elected for a term of five years.

Qualifications required to become the Vice-President of India:

  • Should be a citizen of India and is of or above 35 years of age.
  • Should be qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) – The qualifications for this is that the candidate should be mentally sound, is not bankrupt and has no criminal procedures against him/her and should not be not less than 30 years of age.
  • Should not be holding any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State and at other lower levels of the Government.
  • There are exceptions to the above qualification that are: Office-holders like the Governor of any State or a Union Minister of any State are eligible to become the Vice-President. However, the Vice-Presidential Candidate is considered to have vacated their previous office on the date of serving as the Vice-President.

Following is the list of Vice-Presidents who have served India:

1. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (13 May 1952 – 12 May 1962)
2. Zakir Hussain (13 May 1962 – 12 May 1967)
3. Varahagiri Venkata Giri (13 May 1967 – 3 May 1969)
4. Varahagiri Venkata Giri (24 August 1969 – 24 August 1974)
5. Gopal Swarup Pathak (31 August 1969 – 30 August 1974)
6. Muhammad Hidayat Ullah (31 August 1979 – 30 August 1984)
7. R. Venkataraman (31 August 1984 – 27 July 1987)
8. Shankar Dayal Sharma (3 September 1987 – 24 July 1992)
9. K.R. Narayanan (21 August 1992 – 24 July 1997)
10. Krishan Kant (21 August 1997 – 27 July 2002)
11. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (19 August 2002 – 21 July 2007)
12. Mohammad Hamid Ansari (11 August 2007 – Incumbent)

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