NEW DELHI: After several rounds of meetings with opposition parties to discuss strategy for of deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha , Congress on Monday alleged that the ruling party was “not bothered” about filling the vacancy and called its silence on the issue “undemocratic and conspicuous”.

Responding to a question whether the opposition had identified a consensus candidate, Congress leader Anand Sharma said, “The question of consensus will rise only after the election is notified. But the silence of the government in this regard is both undemocratic and conspicuous. We are waiting to hear from them.”

While the Constitution does not define a period within which a vacancy to the office of deputy chairman must be filled, it says elections to the post must be held as early as possible. PJ Kurien retired as Rajya Sabha deputy chairman on July 1 and it was widely expected that the vacancy would be filled during the ongoing monsoon session.

However, with just 9 days left for the session, the possibility of election looks dim. Elections to the office of deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha have to be notified by the Chairman of the Upper house. The election is held in the House and votes are cast by show of hands. The election follows a first-past-the-post model and the first candidate who gets the majority vote is declared elected.

