Naidu elected next Vice President, Congress thanks Gandhi for being their candidate

New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): With Venkaiah Naidu being elected as the next Vice President of India, the Congress has thanked their candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi for being their candidate in the elections. Addressing the media Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said that they are grateful for Gandhi for becoming their candidate. "The fight was between two political stands. We are really happy that the campaign was done in a grateful and dignified manner," Yechury said. However, he added that if there was any invalid vote then the parties will see to it accordingly. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also congratulated and thanked Gandhi for his support and being their candidate. National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee and former union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has been elected as the new Vice President of India with 516 votes. Whereas, Opposition nominee Gopalkrishna Gandhi has secured 244 votes. 760 votes were valid while 11 were invalid. 381 votes was the quota set to win the polls. Total 771 out of 785 MPs cast their votes today. However, it was revealed that 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) were not present during the voting process. Voting for Vice Presidential Election ended with a total poll percentage of 98.21%. The term of incumbent Vice-President Hamid Ansari, who held the position for two consecutive terms, will come to an end on August 10. The voting began at 10 a.m. earlier in the day. The Vice-President is selected through a secret ballot by the members of the Electoral College consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The nominated Members of Rajya Sabha as well as of Lok Sabha are also eligible to be included in the Electoral College and, therefore, are entitled to participate in the election. Members of Parliament had to use special pens for marking their choice. Votes marked with any other pen are liable to be rejected. The ballot paper contained the names of the contesting candidates, but did not contain any election symbol.(ANI)