Election to Deputy Chairman Rajya Sabha to be Held on August 9, Says Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: The election to the post of deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha will be held on Thursday.

Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu announced this in the Upper House on Monday.

The post has fallen vacant after Congress MP PJ Kurian's term came to an end earlier this year. There have been efforts in the opposition ranks to mobilise support for a non-BJP MP for the post.

The BJP though the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha does not enjoy clear majority in the House. Even with its current allies, it may still fall short of numbers.

In the Rajya Sabha deputy Chairman's election thus, the stand taken by other regional satraps like BJD's Naveen Patnaik, TRS, AIADMK and that of some NDA allies like Shiv Sena would be important.

Sena though part of the ruling coalition had abstained in the recent no-trust vote on the NDA government. While the AIADMK with 37 MPs in the Lower House had voted against the motion.

The UPA had earlier tried to woo BJD by offering to support party's nominee for the post, but Naveen Patnaik's party has reiterated its position to maintain equidistance from the BJP and the Congress in national politics.

NCP RS MP Vandana Chavan's name is also being considered by the UPA as a joint candidate for the post.