Electing next Vice-President

Votes will be cast today for electing a new Vice-President of India. The contest is between M Venkaiah Naidu of the BJP and other NDA allies, and Gopalkrishna Gandhi, sponsored by the Congress and its allies. Members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha constitute the elite electoral college. The contest is unequal in terms of merit but the outcome is known in terms of numbers. Mr. Naidu should romp home comfortably, but, as Mr Gandhi argues, a contest is necessary and a very essential part of democracy.

The Vice-Presidential job is a constitutional office; but the most substantive part of the Vice-President's job is his role as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. It is in this role that a Vice-President gets tested and, judged.  The Rajya Sabha is a rule-based institution and it is the responsibility of the Chairman to summon the requisite neutrality and fair-mindedness; it is for the Chairman to protect the Rajya Sabha’s autonomy and voice. In this context, Gopal Gandhi offers sobriety, reflection and even-handedness; Venkaiah Naidu has been around for a while and is not unfamiliar with the parliamentary landscape. But he is an intensely BJP man. The last time a BJP man adorned that office was during the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat tenure. Shekhawat was a tall leader in his own right and thought of himself as an equal peer to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani.  Naidu lacks that stature; perhaps he lacks the desire to be equal to or taller than the Prime Minister. 

The election for the new Vice-President is taking place in the larger context of deepening polarisation. And, this polarisation is much more than political; it is being seen by the two contestants and their quarterbacks as a larger battle of ideas and visions. Gopal Gandhi speaks of growing intolerance and bigotry and warns against “a new Partition” being sown in our minds. Naidu is, unsurprisingly, at ease with the ruling establishment and its political prejudices and preferences. The predicted outcome, though, will not settle decisively the outcome of this battle of ideas.