The Vice-President of India

Prerequisites

• The President: Election, Qualifications and Impeachment — the Vice-President’s election and removal are best learnt as contrasts with the President’s.
• Parliament — the Rajya Sabha, over which the Vice-President presides.

The Hook: Two Vice-Presidents in One Year

Why it matters: Prelims loves the contrasts: Vice-President vs President on the electoral college, qualifications, resignation and removal. The 2025 resignation and election make the office a likely current-affairs-linked question.

Articles 63–71 at a Glance

The office of Vice-President (उपराष्ट्रपति) is modelled on the American Vice-President, who is also the presiding officer of the Senate. Unlike the American Vice-President, the Indian one does not automatically succeed to the presidency for the rest of the term; he only acts until a new President is elected.

Election (Article 66)

The 2025 election: Held on 9 September 2025. Of 781 electors, 767 voted; 752 ballots were valid. C.P. Radhakrishnan (NDA) received 452 votes and B. Sudershan Reddy (INDIA bloc), a retired Supreme Court judge, received 300. Radhakrishnan was sworn in on 12 September 2025 by President Droupadi Murmu.

Qualifications, Oath and Conditions

• Qualifications: citizen of India; completed 35 years; qualified for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha; no office of profit (the offices of President, Vice-President, Governor and Minister are excluded from this bar).
• Must not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a State Legislature; a member who is elected vacates the seat on taking office.
• Oath (Art 69): administered by the President. The Vice-President swears to “bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution” and to “faithfully discharge the duty”, not to “preserve, protect and defend” it (which is the President’s oath).
• Salary: the Constitution fixes no salary for the Vice-President as such. He draws a salary as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, under the Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament Act, 1953. It was raised to ₹4 lakh per month in 2018.
• While acting as President, he gets the President’s emoluments and does not perform the duties of Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Art 64). The Deputy Chairman then presides.

Term, Resignation and Removal (Article 67)

• Term: five years from entering office; continues until the successor enters office.
• Resignation (Art 67(a)): addressed to the President.
• Removal (Art 67(b)):
  1. 14 days’ notice of the intention to move the resolution.
  2. Resolution passed by the Rajya Sabha by a majority of all the then members (an effective majority).
  3. Agreed to by the Lok Sabha by a simple majority.
  4. No grounds are specified in the Constitution.
• While a resolution for his removal is under consideration, the Vice-President cannot preside over the Rajya Sabha, though he may speak and take part in the proceedings (Art 92).

Vacancy (Article 68)

• Election to fill a vacancy caused by expiry of term must be completed before the term ends.
• For a vacancy caused by death, resignation, removal or otherwise, the election is held as soon as possible. Unlike the President’s case, no six-month limit is written into the Constitution.
• The newly elected Vice-President gets a full five-year term.
• During the vacancy, the Deputy Chairman performs the duties of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Art 91). This happened between Dhankhar’s resignation and Radhakrishnan’s swearing-in (July to September 2025).

Functions: Two Roles

flowchart LR
    VP["Vice-President"] --> RS["Ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Art 64)
Presides, casting vote only in a tie,
decides points of order"]
    VP --> AP["Acting President (Art 65)
During a vacancy (max 6 months)
or the President's absence or illness"]

• As Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (राज्य सभा के सभापति): functions similar to the Speaker’s in the Lok Sabha. He is not a member of the House, so he has no vote except a casting vote in case of a tie. Unlike the Speaker, he does not decide whether a Bill is a Money Bill.
• As acting President: has all the powers, immunities and emoluments of the President.

Records worth knowing:

• Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was the first Vice-President (1952–62) and served two terms. M. Hamid Ansari (2007–17) also served two full terms.
• V.V. Giri was the first Vice-President to act as President (1969).
• Six Vice-Presidents later became President: S. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, V.V. Giri, R. Venkataraman, Shankar Dayal Sharma and K.R. Narayanan.
• Krishan Kant died in office (2002).

Analysis for Mains

• A lesser electorate for a lesser office. The Vice-President has no independent executive powers; his core job is parliamentary. Hence only Parliament elects him, and nominated members, who sit in the Rajya Sabha he chairs, are included.
• Neutrality question. As Chairman he must be impartial, but he is elected by a parliamentary majority. The December 2024 removal notice and its rejection show the strain this creates in a polarised House.
• Continuity mechanism. Art 65 ensures that the Union is never without a head of State, while Art 68 and the requirement of a fresh election keep the presidency elective, unlike the American system of automatic succession.

Memory Tricks

Don’t Confuse

Common Mistakes

Practice

All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.

Level 1: Foundation

1. The Vice-President submits his resignation to the ______.
2. To be Vice-President, a person must be qualified for election as a member of the ______.
3. Who elected C.P. Radhakrishnan as Vice-President in September 2025?

Level 2: Prelims MCQs

Q1. Consider the following statements about the Vice-President of India:

1. The electoral college for his election includes nominated members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
2. A resolution for his removal can be moved in either House of Parliament.
3. While acting as President, he does not perform the duties of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 only
• (b) 1 and 3 only
• (c) 2 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q2. The resolution to remove the Vice-President must be passed by:

• (a) a two-thirds majority of the total membership of each House
• (b) an effective majority in the Rajya Sabha and agreed to by a simple majority in the Lok Sabha
• (c) a simple majority in both Houses at a joint sitting
• (d) a special majority in the Lok Sabha and agreed to by the Rajya Sabha

Q3. Match List I (office or act) with List II (person who administers the oath or receives it):

• (a) A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
• (b) A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
• (c) A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
• (d) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4

Q4. Which of the following statements about the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is correct?

• (a) He is elected by the members of the Rajya Sabha from among themselves.
• (b) He can vote in the first instance on any question.
• (c) He has a casting vote in the event of a tie.
• (d) He certifies whether a Bill is a Money Bill.

Level 3: Mains Answer Writing

Q1. (150 words) Compare the manner of election and removal of the President and the Vice-President of India. Why does the Constitution treat them differently?

Quick Revision Table

Key Takeaways

What’s Next

• Prime Minister and Council of Ministers — the real executive
• Powers of the President — what the Vice-President exercises when acting as President
• Parliament — the Rajya Sabha’s presiding officers and procedure
• Union Executive — Quick Revision