NEW DELHI: Ahead of the polling of votes to elect the next Vice-President scheduled on September 9, the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday appointed two senior officers of the rank of Additional Secretary as Observers to oversee the poll process.With both ruling NDA and the Opposition having named their respective nominees for the vice-presidential elections, the battle lines are now drawn between Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan, the NDA nominee, and Justice (Retd) B Sudershan Reddy fielded by the INDIA bloc.Friday was the last day for filing nominations, while candidates can withdraw their nominations until August 25. The Vice-President’s chair fell vacant after Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned on the first day of the Monsoon session on July 21, citing health reasons.Officers appointed by the EC as Observers for the electoral process are Sushil Kumar Lohani, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and D Anandan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance. Additionally, Nitin Kumar Shivdas Khade, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, has been placed on the reserve list.Earlier on Friday, Reddy filed his nomination papers for the vice-presidential elections and described it as a moment of honour, and pledged to discharge the role with impartiality, dignity, and steadfast commitment, if elected. He filed the nomination in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, besides other leaders of INDIA bloc partners.Radhakrishnan had filed his nomination on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, besides a host of leaders belonging to other parties in the ruling NDA alliance.
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