With reference to the President and the Vice-President of India, answer the following questions:
State the three functions of the Vice-President.
Topic: Functions of the Vice-President
Answer
(1) He is the EX-OFFICIO CHAIRMAN of the Rajya Sabha. He presides over its meetings, maintains order, decides the admissibility of questions and motions, and his ruling on points of order is final. (2) He does not vote in the first instance, but exercises a CASTING VOTE in the event of a tie, so that a deadlock in the House can be resolved. (3) He ACTS AS PRESIDENT when the office falls vacant through death, resignation or removal, or when the President is unable to discharge his functions — in the first case until a new President is elected within six months.
One mark per function. The three are: presiding over the Rajya Sabha, the casting vote, and acting as President. The most important is the third, since it is the constitutional reason the office exists at all. Note the peculiarity worth mentioning: the Vice-President presides over a House of which he is NOT a member, which is precisely why he votes only to break a tie.