Margaret Alva files nomination papers for opposition's Vice President nominee

|HT|

Opposition's consensus vice presidential nominee Margaret Alva filed her nomination papers for the forthcoming polls on Tuesday, with several leaders accompanying her for the same. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury were among the leaders present during the nomination. Today is the last date for submission of nominations for the vice presidential elections, which is slated for August 6. Incumbent Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu's tenure will end on August 10.

Alva, a former Union minister, has been pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA's candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar for the post of the second-highest constitutional post in the country.

After being named as the joint opposition's candidate, the 80-year-old veteran leader in a tweet said on Monday that the vice presidential poll is “without a doubt” going to be “tough”, but she is “not afraid to take on the challenge”. “I sincerely thank the leaders of all the opposition parties who have supported my candidature,” she added. Alva has been a parliamentarian for five terms, and served as the Governor of Gujarat, Goa, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.

Alva's name was announced after a meeting at Pawar's residence on Sunday, which was supported by as many as 18 opposition parties. However, Trinamool Congress (TMC) - the second-largest opposition face in Parliament, was absent. After the meeting, Pawar told reporters that the opposition camp had tried to contact Banerjee, but “could not get through as she was busy with a council”. “We also contacted Arvind Kejriwal. His decision is yet to come,” the NCP chief added.

Banerjee has convened a meeting of MPs on Thursday (July 21) to decide the party's strategy for the vice presidential elections. All MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including the nominated members, constitute the electoral college for the vice president's election.

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