UPA nominee Mohammad Hamid Ansari and his NDA counterpart Mr Jaswant Singh is locked in a direct contest in the Vice Presidential Polls. No candidate withdrew their candidature on the last day for withdrawal of nominations on Monday. The Vice President polls are scheduled to take place on the 7th of next month.

Returning officer for the polls, T K Viswanathan told reporters after the scrutiny on Saturday that a total of 31 candidates filed their papers during the 14-day nomination process. The nomination papers of 29 others were rejected on various grounds for failing to meet the requirements. The nomination papers of Mr Ansari and Mr Singh were accepted during scrutiny on last Saturday.

UPA candidate Mr Ansari filed his papers on 18th of this month while NDA candidate Mr Singh filed his papers on 20th, the last day for filing of nominations.

AIR correspondent reports the Vice-President is elected through a direct ballot by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members including nominated members comprising the electoral college. A total of 790 MPs are eligible to cast their vote to elect the 14th Vice President of the country.