Vice President of India, Powers and Functions.

 Why is it in the news?

14th Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankar resigned from his post on the health ground on 21st July 2025. He had two years left for his term to complete. This is the first time that a Vice President tendered his resignation on the health issue. Earlier, V V Giri resigned from the post of Vice President to contest for President of India. R Venket Raman resigned from the Vice President when elected to the President of India in 1987.  

Roles and responsibilities of the Vice President

1. The Vice President of India is the second highest constitutional authority in the country. He acts as the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He acts as the deputy to the President and assumes the duties of the President in the event of resignation, removal, death, impeachment and incapacity.

2. He is elected for five years. He can be re-elected umpteen times. 

3. He presides over Rajya Sabha’s sessions, protecting rights and privileges of members. He cannot act as the chairman while serving as acting President. In case of vacancy or inability of the President, he assumes the President’s duty until a new President is elected. He also serves as the chancellor of Punjab University, Delhi University and visitor of Makhanlal National University. He is also the President of the Indian Institute of Public Administration. In addition, he engages himself in addressing educational institutions, cultural programmes and visits foreign countries as the spokesperson of Government of India. 

Eligibility 

1. To become the Vice President of India, he must be a citizen of India. He must have completed 35 years of age. He must be qualified to be elected as the member of the Rajya Sabha. He must not hold any office of profit under the central, state or local government. However, a President, Governor or Minister in a central or state government can stand for the post of Vice President without resigning. Once he is elected and assumes the charge of Vice President, the previous post held by him is automatically vacated. 

Election process 

1.Vice President is elected by an electoral college consisting of elected and nominated members of both Houses of Parliament on the basis of proportional representation by a single transferable vote. Thus, members of state legislative assemblies do not participate in the election of Vice President as in the case of the election of the President of India. 

Removal process 

The Vice President can be removed by a resolution in the Rajya Sabha after giving him the advance notice of 14 days. Removal would be complete if the Rajya Sabha passes the resolution with an effective majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha. No specific ground has been mentioned in the constitution for the removal of the Vice President. Thus, there is no need to start impeachment proceedings based on the ground of proven misbehaviour or incapacity in the case of the President of India. An effective majority is the total strength of the House minus Vacancy. For example, if the effective strength of the Rajya Sabha on the date of the voting was 245 and there was a vacancy of ten members. The effective majority would be 245-102+1 = 118. Thus, if the resolution has the support of 118 members, it is deemed to be passed. The resolution must be agreed to by the Lok Sabha by simple majority. A simple majority means the majority of members present and voting. For example, if on the date of voting, 350 members were present in the Lok Sabha and if 50 members absented from voting and 151 members voted in favour of the resolution of removal and 149 members voted against the removal, the resolution would be deemed to have passed. So, the Vice President stands removed by the President of India.   

Comparison between the US and Indian Vice President

1. Vice President in India serves as the Deputy to the President and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He acts  as the President in case of vacancy or incapacity until a new President is elected within six months.  He presides over the Rajya Sabha. He oversees its proceeds and decides on financial bills. He has no direct executive power unless acting as President. He is elected separately by an electoral college consisting of the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for a period of five years which can be renewed. 

2. On the other hand, the US Vice President automatically assumes the presidency if the President dies, resigns or is removed. No new election is required. If he succeeds to the post of Presidentship for more than two years, he will have only one chance to get elected for another term of four years. However, if he succeeds to the post of Presidentship for less than two years, according to 22nd amendment, he is eligible for election to the Presidentship of the US for two terms of four years each, consecutive or non-consecutive.  He presides over the senate and votes only to break ties. He is often assigned specific executive tasks by the President. He is elected on a joint ticket with the President by the electoral college for four years which can be renewed again for four years. He must be a natural born US citizen, at least 35 years old and resident for fourteen years. He can be impeached by congress for high crimes and misdemeanors. He can submit a resignation letter to the secretary to the state. He represents the US at domestic and international events openly assigned by the President. 

Position of the Vice President in our constitution

1. The Vice President ensures constitutional stability. It ensures continuity and neutrality without undermining the Prime Minister’s authority. 

2. Without a Vice President, a presidential vacancy could create constitutional crises in a parliamentary system where the President’s role is integral to legislative and executive processes. Although he is not assigned executive power as in the case of the US Vice President, he still enjoys legislative powers and represents the Union Government in educational institutions, cultural fora and strengthening international relations.  

Conclusion

1. To sum up, the Vice President of India is not a superfluous post. He exerts legislative powers. In addition, he represents the country in the international fora. He ensures continuity in the administration and impartiality in the conduct of the Upper House. In several parliamentary forms of governments, there is no post of Vice President. The Indian Vice President is a unique feature of our Parliamentary Democracy.