Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that the leaders of Opposition parties will meet on July 17 to discuss the candidate for the upcoming Vice Presidential election.

“Meeting on 17th July and all Opposition leaders will attend it. Parliamentary Affairs Minister has also called an all-party meet. So, we’ll hold a discussion with everyone on the 17th that what kind of a candidate we should have,” said Mallikarjun Kharge on the candidate for the Vice Presidential polls.

The Central Government has called for an all-party meeting on Sunday morning ahead of the start of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

According to him, the Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has given a go-ahead for a joint Opposition candidate.

“There is no candidate from Congress. Our party president has clearly said that whoever is chosen as the candidate by all parties (of Opposition), we will stand with it,” added Kharge.

Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential election. Congress has given the task to Malikarjun Kharge who is the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha to reach out to opposition parties to select a candidate for the election for the Vice President post.

Nominations for the vice-presidential polls slated to be held on August 6, began on Tuesday.

The Election Commission made an announcement of the elections for the 16th vice president of India to take place on August 6, 2022.

The ECI has also issued directions for Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to be the Returning Officer for the polls.

The nomination papers for the above election can be submitted starting today up to July 19, 2022. The scrutiny for the nominations will take place on July 20 and the final list will be published on July 22.

As in the case of the election to the President of India, the eligible candidates will need to submit a few documents including a certified copy of the electoral roll with the name mentioned on it and an amount of Rs 15,000 at the time of submitting the nomination papers which shall be returned after the election process is over in case they reachable candidate does not make it to the final list.

In case of the election of the Vice President of India, voting will happen in the Parliament and members of the Rajya Sabha will participate in this election as the vice president is also the de facto chairman of the upper house.

The poll for the upcoming vice president’s election is slated to take place between 10 AM and 5 PM on August 6, 2022, and the results are expected to be out on the same day.

In 2017 the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India’s 15th vice president. His term ends on August 10, 2022.

Meanwhile, National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi and joint opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha are the only two contesting candidates for election to the Office of the President after the last date for the withdrawal of candidature ended on Saturday.

The Returning Officer for the presidential polls Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody said the polling for the Presidential election will take place on July 18 from 10 am to 5 pm in Room Number 63 of the Parliament House.

The Members of Parliament normally exercise their vote in Parliament House, New Delhi, and Members of State Legislative Assemblies including the Members of the Legislative Assemblies of the NCT of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry in their respective Capitals at the places notified by the Election Commission in this behalf.

However, a Member of Parliament may vote in any State Capital and Union Territory Capital if he/she has obtained the prior permission of the Election Commission. Similarly, a Member of any State Legislative Assembly who has obtained the prior permission of the Election Commission, may, vote in Parliament House, New Delhi or at any State capital other than his/her own State.