New Delhi, July 26 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday appointed the secretary general of the Rajya Sabha, PC Mody, as the returning officer for the Vice-Presidential election, four days after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from the post citing medical reasons. Garima Jain, joint secretary, and Vijay Kumar, director, both from Rajya Sabha Secretariat, have been appointed as assistant returning officers, two separate gazette notifications said. The appointments were made in consultation with the Ministry of Law and Justice and with the consent of the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The Vice-Presidential election follows a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote through secret ballot. The Electoral College comprises only Members of Parliament-both elected and nominated members of the Lok Sabha (543 elected, 2 nominated) and the Rajya Sabha (233 elected, 12 nominated), totaling 790 electors. Nominated members, who do not vote in Presidential elections, are eligible to vote in Vice-Presidential polls. The nomination process requires candidates to file in prescribed Form 3. Each nomination must be backed by at least 20 proposers and 20 seconders, all of whom must be MPs. A candidate cannot be supported by the same MP more than once. A security deposit of Rs.15,000 must accompany the nomination, either in cash or pre-deposited with RBI. Nominations are scrutinised on a fixed date to verify signatures and eligibility. Candidates can withdraw their nominations within two days after scrutiny. Based on the 2022 precedent, the election schedule typically includes notification issuance, a seven-day nomination period, scrutiny, withdrawal, and polling around 30 days after notification....