The Election Commission of India (EC) on Wednesday said that it would announce the schedule of the vice-presidential polls “as soon as possible”.

The EC said in a statement, a day after the Centre notified the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, that it “has already started the preparations relating to the Vice-Presidential Elections, 2025. On completion of the preparatory activities, the announcement of the Election Schedule to the office of the Vice-President of India will follow as soon
as possible”.

The poll panel added that the activities preceding the announcement include preparing the “Electoral College”, which is a list of members of both Houses of Parliament with their updated addresses, finalising the returning officers and disseminating background material on previous VP polls.

In the past, the poll process took about a month.

The “Election of The Vice-President” web page of the VP’s website says: “An election to fill a vacancy caused by the expiry of the term of office of the Vice-President is completed before the expiry of the term. In case a vacancy arises by reasons of death, resignation or removal or otherwise, the election to fill that vacancy is held as soon as possible after the occurrence…. The Constitution provides an outer
limit of six months (Article 62) for election to the office of the President of India under these circumstances.”

Although Dhankhar’s resignation letter says he quit to “prioritise health care and abide by medical advice”, speculation persists over why he quit.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters outside Parliament on Wednesday that there was something fishy about the resignation of Dhankhar.

“The government must answer why he resigned, what are the reasons, what is the secret behind it. We feel that ‘daal mein kuch kaala hai (there is something fishy)’…. He used to defend the BJP and the RSS more than the BJP-RSS people themselves,” Kharge said.

The former VP had undergone angioplasty in March.