With the vice-presidential elections round the corner, the gaps in the Constitution with regard to this office are becoming apparent. The first draft of the Constitution did not provide for a vice-president - it was created so that in the absence of the president, the vice-president would be available to perform his duties. Yet many loopholes remain in the area of the functioning and election of the vice-president, undermining the importance of this position. While the Indian vice-president is modelled on the American one, there are differences in their manner of election. The American president and vice-president are both elected by the same electoral college. In India, however, the president is elected by an electoral college consisting of all elected members of parliament and state legislatures (Article 54), while the vice-president is elected only by the members of the two houses of Parliament (Article 66). Thus, the presidential elections is an all-India affair, while that of the vice-president is limited to the Parliament and fails to attract as much importance. In the American system, the vice-president takes over in case the president is absent or has resigned and remains in office for the remainder of the latter's term. In a similar situation in India, the vice-president fills in as acting president until a new president assumes office after an interim election (Article 65). Since he takes over the president's duties in his absence, shouldn't the vice-president be elected by the same electoral college as the president? Qualifying clause Clause 1 of Article 65 stipulates that in the event of the president's death, resignation or dismissal, the vice-president shall act as president, while clause 2 says that when the president is unable to perform his duties owing to illness or other such reasons, the vice-president shall fill in for him until he resumed office. But who is to decide whether the president is unable to perform his duties? There is an ambiguity in these clauses which can only be cleared by making changes in them. The Constitution does not take into consideration that both the president and the vice-president may be indisposed or unavailable at the same time. In 1969, when the acting president, V.V. Giri, resigned to contest the presidential elections, the positions of both president and vice-president became vacant. Parliament had to pass the Presidential (Discharge of Functions) Act, which allowed the chief justice of India to perform the duties of the president. But bringing a member of the judiciary into the executive is not a very wise solution. For the period in which the chief justice carries out the duties of the president, his salary and allowances are the same as those of the president. But when the vice-president officiates as president, his allowance is decided upon by Parliament, and until it does so, he receives the allowance allowed him under the Second Schedule. This discrepancy is inexplicable. Stopgap president Also, the method of impeachment of the president and vice-president is very different. A resolution, passed by a majority of the members of the Rajya Sabha and agreed to by the Lok Sabha, is enough to dismiss the vice-president. Thus, a ruling party, that has a simple majority in both houses, can easily dismiss the vice-president. It is also not clear whether such impeachment can be done even when the vice-president is discharging the functions of the president. As second man in the executive pyramid, it is strange that the vice-president does not have any executive powers. When the vice-president is doing duty as stand-in president, he is also expected to carry out the latter's executive functions. Should he not then be allowed some executive powers of his own in order to ensure that he knows his way around at such times? The vice-presidential position has a lot of potential. The office must therefore be given due importance and dignity. Although, the vice-president is associated with a number of cultural institutions in an ex officio capacity, the Constitution must elevate the vice-president's position, ensure him a stable tenure and grant him executive powers of his own.