The NDA has authorised PM Narendra Modi and BJP president JP Nadda to pick the ruling coalition candidate for the election.The nomination process for the September 9 poll to elect the next vice president began on Thursday, with the Election Commission issuing a notification.
The last date to file nominations is August 1.
The vice president’s post became vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation on July 21. In his resignation letter to the president, Dhankar cited health reasons for his decision. His term was to end in August 2027. While no name has been officially announced for the vice presidential election by the NDA, several names have surfaced as frontrunners for the race to the post. Now Gujarat Governor Devvrat Acharya’s name has emerged as a name being discussed for the Vice President’s post.
Here is a look at all names doing the rounds
Harivansh Singh
Among the leading names being discussed for the post is Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh Singh, a Janata Dal (United) MP who has held the role since 2020.
Harivansh , a long-time editor of Prabhat Khabar, a regional paper published out of Ranchi, and a former media advisor to the late ex- Prime Minister Chandrashekhar, who commanded respect across party lines.
VK Saxena
Political circles have been abuzz with speculation about a larger assignment potentially coming up for VK Saxena, who is currently serving as the lieutenant governor of Delhi.
Saxena is a Kanpur University alumnus and a licensed pilot.He took over as KVIC chief on October 27, 2015 and worked on several schemes and products focussed on artisan empowerment, natural products, footwear and handmade paper.
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In 2021, Saxena was named by the Union government as a member of the national committee to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence. In November 2020, he was picked as a member of the Padma awards selection panel for 2021. He was appointed as the governor of Delhi in 2022.
Manoj Sinha
Manoj Sinha currently serves as lieutenant governor (LG) of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. He finished his five-year tenure on August 6.
A former junior minister of railways and an old BJP hand from Uttar Pradesh, Sinha contributed a degree of stability post the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kahsmir, his supporters say.
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Sinha was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1999. During his student days, he was the president of the Banaras Hindu University’s students’ union.
Acharya Devvrat
Acharya Devvrat currently serves as the governor of Gujarat. He was appointed to the post in 2019. Prior to that, Devvrat held the post of governor in Himachal Pradesh.
According to a TOI report, Devvrat, who has been associated with the Arya Samaj, earlier served as the principal of a ‘gurukul’ (traditional school) at Kurukshetra in Haryana.
He is a post-graduate in Hindi and has over 30 years of experience in academics and administration.
