Amarinder Singh to join BJP soon, likely to be NDA's Vice Presidential Candidate

Speculations are rife that the former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh may formally join the BJP soon. A BJP source, on the condition of anonymity, stated that Amarinder Singh is likely to be NDA's candidate for the vice-presidential election.

The 80-year-old former chief minister of Punjab who quit Congress last year is in London for back surgery. In November 2021, Amarinder Singh tendered his resignation from the party on the pretext that he was hurt by the conduct of INC party president Sonia Gandhi and her children — Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra Gandhi. After exiting Congress, Amarinder Singh later formed his own party called the Punjab Lok Congress.

 According to party sources, the process of merging his party 'Punjab Lok Congress' with the BJP will begin soon after he returns home after a couple of weeks. If Amarinder, as expected is announced as the NDA alliance's candidate for the post of vice-president, then the process of merger of his party will be led by his wife and former Union minister Praneet Kaur. 
The vice-president in India is elected by the members of the electoral college consisting of the members of both houses of Parliament following the system of proportional representation through the single transferable vote.

The electoral college comprises of 788 members — 233 elected members of Rajya Sabha, 12 nominated members of Rajya Sabha, and 543 elected members of Lok Sabha. The vice-presidential election is scheduled to take place on August 6. The Election Commission will release the official notification regarding the vice-presidential election on July 5. July 19 is the last day for candidates to file nominations. The scrutiny of nomination will be held on July 20. July 22 is the last day for withdrawal of nominations. The NDA alliance will likely announce its name for the post of Vice President by the second week of July. The term of the current Vice President Venkaiah Naidu ends on August 10.