NEW DELHI: National Democratic Alliance on Thursday authorised PM Modi and BJP president J P Nadda to finalise the alliance’s vice-presidential candidate, boosting the chances of Jagdeep Dhankhar’s successor being from the governing party’s own ranks.“The decision taken by the PM will be accepted by all NDA parties,” parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said. The opposition INDIA bloc already hinted at fielding its candidate. If oppn wants to discuss VP polls, we are ready: Rijiju After a brief meeting of alliance members at the new Parliament building, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said that they took a unanimous decision to authorise PM Narendra Modi and JP Nadda, who are leaders of the House in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, to decide their vice-presidential candidate.Defence minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting, which was attended by Union home minister Amit Shah besides Nadda and Rijiju from BJP, JDU’s Dileshwar Kamath and Lalan Singh, Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde, TDP’s Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, and LJP’s Chirag Paswan. BJP allies like Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) and Upendra Kushwaha (RLP) and Ramdas Athawale (RPI) were also a part of the discussions.The victory of an NDA candidate is a foregone conclusion. Against the maximum strength of 788, the effective strength of the two Houses is 781 due to one vacancy in the Lower House and six in the Upper House, including one caused by the recent death of former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren. NDA’s strength is around 422, comfortably above the majority mark of 391.Asked if NDA will reach out to opposition to evolve a consensus on the next vice-president, Rijiju told reporters that as of now, Modi and Nadda have been authorised to identify the alliance’s candidate. The opposition INDIA bloc already hinted at fielding its candidate. “There are certain conventions. If opposition parties come and discuss with us, we will always discuss with them. But this is a constitutional process which we have to do,” Rijiju said.The election is being held as Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned as vice-president on July 21, the first day of Parliament’s monsoon session. Though he had resigned citing health reasons, his departure is believed to have been triggered by the souring of his ties with govt, making his continuation untenable.