Indian and American Vice-Presidents Compared

VP comparison USA is a standard theme in Indian polity study because the office of the Indian Vice-President is explicitly modelled on the lines of the American Vice-President — yet the two offices diverge sharply on the one function that matters most: what happens when the presidency itself falls vacant.

A Shared Design, With One Key Difference

The framers of the Indian Constitution borrowed the basic template of the Vice-Presidency from the United States, giving India's Vice-President a role that runs in parallel to the American Vice-President in structure. But the parallel breaks down precisely at the point of presidential succession, which is the single most consequential difference between the two offices.

Succession: Full Term vs Temporary Stand-In

When the office of President falls vacant in the United States, the American Vice-President succeeds to the presidency outright and serves out the remainder of his predecessor's unexpired term as President in his own right. In India, the position is materially different: when the office of President falls vacant, the Indian Vice-President does not assume the presidency for the unexpired term. He merely acts as President on a temporary basis until a new President is elected and enters office — and he can act in that capacity for a maximum of six months, within which period a fresh presidential election has to be completed.

Aspect	Indian Vice-President	American Vice-President
On a vacancy in the presidency	Acts as President temporarily, for up to six months, until a new President is elected	Succeeds to the presidency and serves the remainder of the predecessor's unexpired term
Role in the upper house	Ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha	Presides over the Senate (the upper house)

Chairing the Upper House: The Shared Feature

Where the two offices genuinely converge is in their legislative role. The Indian Vice-President acts as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and in that capacity his powers and functions resemble those of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. This mirrors the American Vice-President, who likewise presides over the Senate, the upper house of the United States Congress. In both systems, the country's second-highest constitutional office is tied to presiding over the upper chamber of the national legislature — a design choice the Indian Constitution consciously carried over from the American model.

Why the Indian Vice-President Is Called "His Superfluous Highness"

Because the Constitution has not assigned the Indian Vice-President any independent, substantive function of his own beyond presiding over the Rajya Sabha and standing by as a temporary stand-in for the President, some scholars have described the office, somewhat sardonically, as "His Superfluous Highness." The office was nonetheless created deliberately — to maintain political and constitutional continuity of the Indian State in the event the presidency falls vacant, so that the country is never without someone empowered to act in that capacity even for a short interval.

How the Indian Vice-President Is Elected

Like the President, the Vice-President of India is elected indirectly, not by the people directly, but the composition of the two electoral colleges is not identical. The Vice-President is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament — and, notably, this electoral college includes both elected and nominated members of Parliament, and does not include members of the State Legislative Assemblies at all. The President's electoral college, by contrast, includes only elected MPs (not nominated ones) but does include the elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies. Dr B.R. Ambedkar explained this difference on the ground that the President is the head of the State representing the nation as a whole, whereas the Vice-President's role is essentially tied to Parliament.

Salary and Emoluments

The Constitution does not fix any separate emoluments for the Vice-President as such; he draws his regular salary in his capacity as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Parliament raised this salary from ₹1.25 lakh to ₹4 lakh per month in 2018, and in 2008 the pension of a retired Vice-President was raised from ₹20,000 per month to 50% of his salary per month. He is also entitled to a daily allowance, a free furnished residence, and medical, travel, and other facilities. During any period when the Vice-President acts as President or discharges the President's functions, he is not paid the Rajya Sabha Chairman's salary or allowance; instead, he receives the salary and allowance of the President.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• The Indian Vice-President acts only as a temporary stand-in President for up to six months on a presidential vacancy; the American Vice-President succeeds outright to the remainder of the term.
• Both the Indian and American Vice-Presidents preside over their respective countries' upper legislative house (Rajya Sabha / Senate).
• The Indian Vice-President's electoral college includes nominated MPs but excludes State Legislative Assembly members — the reverse of the President's electoral college.

Mains

• Critically examine why the Indian Vice-President, despite being modelled on the American Vice-President, was not given the power to succeed to the full unexpired presidential term.
• Discuss the significance of the epithet "His Superfluous Highness" in evaluating the constitutional utility of the Vice-President's office.

FAQ

Q1. What happens when the office of President becomes vacant in India, compared to the United States? In India, the Vice-President only acts as President temporarily, for a maximum of six months, until a new President is elected. In the United States, the Vice-President succeeds to the presidency and completes the predecessor's unexpired term.

Q2. What legislative role do the Indian and American Vice-Presidents share? Both preside over the upper house of their national legislature — the Rajya Sabha in India, the Senate in the United States.

Q3. Why is the Indian Vice-President sometimes called "His Superfluous Highness"? Because the Constitution assigns the office no independent substantive function beyond presiding over the Rajya Sabha and temporarily standing in for the President.

Q4. Does the Vice-President of India draw a separate fixed salary? No. He draws his salary in his capacity as ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, except while acting as President, when he receives the President's salary instead.

Quick Revision

• Indian VP: acts as President for a maximum of six months on a vacancy, until a new President is elected.
• American VP: succeeds outright and completes the unexpired presidential term.
• Both preside over their country's upper legislative house.
• Indian VP's electoral college = elected + nominated MPs, no State Assembly members.
• Indian VP draws salary as Rajya Sabha Chairman (raised to ₹4 lakh/month in 2018), not a separate VP salary.

Sources

• The Constitution of India, Articles 63–71 — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india/

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
• D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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