Vice President election: EC appoints Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers
Rajya Sabha Secretary General has been named as the RO, while the Joint Secretary and the Director of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat have been appointed as Assistant ROs
The Election Commission (EC) on Friday (July 25) appointed Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant ROs for the Vice Presidential election. The EC stated in a release that it has appointed the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha as the Returning Officer and the Joint Secretary of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, along with the Director of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, as Assistant Returning Officers for the Vice Presidential election.
“Therefore, the Election Commission, in consultation with the Ministry of Law and Justice and with the consent of the Hon'ble Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, has appointed the Secretary General, Rajya Sabha, as Returning Officer for the ensuing Vice-Presidential Election, 2025,” stated the EC in a release.
“The Election Commission of India has also appointed Ms. Garima Jain, Joint Secretary, Rajya Sabha Secretariat and Shri Vijay Kumar, Director, Rajya Sabha Secretariat as Assistant Returning Officers during the course of Vice-Presidential Election, 2025,” it added.
Also Read: Congress demands ‘dignified farewell’ for Dhankhar; Centre stays mum
EC started preparations for VP poll
The development comes a day after the EC, in the wake of the surprise resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President, announced that it had started preparations for holding the Vice Presidential elections and would announce the schedule as soon as possible.
Dhankhar resigned as Vice President on Monday (July 21), citing “medical advice”. The move has set the political circle a buzz with the Congress claiming that there were “far deeper reasons” behind Dhankhar’s sudden resignation than just health issues.
Also Read: Dhankhar effect: NDA, INDIA back to drawing board as EC begins preps for VP polls
Congress demands ‘dignified farewell’
Congress has demanded a “dignified farewell” for Dhankhar. The demand was raised by Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting on Wednesday. The government is yet to respond to the demand.
Congress president and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha even went to the extent of saying that Dhankhar’s health was fine, alleging that there was “something fishy” about his resignation.
Watch: Opposition unites to challenge Modi govt on Dhankhar's exit; can it pull it off?
MSP issue
Earlier, senior former Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had suggested that Dhankhar’s repeated mention of the issue of legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) on crops might have irked the Modi government, leading to his resignation.
Meanwhile, Dhankhar is reportedly preparing to vacate the official residence of the Vice President and had started packing on the day of his resignation itself.
He had also declined to meet Opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.