New Delhi
Opposition coalition India will field joint candidates for the post of Vice President. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is contacting opposition parties to discuss possible names and to create consensus on it. Sources gave this information on Sunday. Kharge said that there is a strong feeling in the opposition coalition that the opposition parties should not back down from the match to send a strong political message regardless of the result. He said that there has been no discussion on choosing candidates, but talks are going on between the partners of the India coalition to consult the names of potential candidates. Kharge is contacting opposition parties to build consensus.
According to Congress sources, there is a consensus among all parties that India will field joint candidates for the Vice Presidential election. However, a section of the opposition camp believes that India should decide its candidate only after the announcement of its candidate from the BJP. In recent times, unity has increased among India’s constituents, which have resolved to fight against the special intensive revision of the voter list in Bihar and the alleged election rigging. Demonstrating solidarity, top leaders of India held a dinner meeting at the residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Along with revision of the voter list in Bihar, he committed to fight against the vote theft model of the BJP-Independence Commission.
Opposition faction meeting at Kharge’s residence
This was the first meeting of face -to -face after a meeting of top leaders of the opposition faction at the residence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in June 2024 soon after the Lok Sabha elections. Several leaders of 25 parties were present in the meeting including Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, NCP-(SP) chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference Supreuk Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, SP’s Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav of RJD, Abhishek Banerjee of Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Makpa’s Makpa’s Makpa’s Makpa’s Makpa, Makpa D Raja of CPI, Dipankar Bhattacharya of CPI (Male) and MNM chief Kamal Haasan were included.
Told about ‘vote theft model’
During the meeting, Rahul Gandhi gave a presentation on the BJP’s alleged vote theft model through the Election Commission. Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal described the meeting as one of the most successful meetings. It was asked whether the Vice Presidential election was also discussed? To this, he said, ‘The Vice Presidential election was not discussed much. There are other opportunities for this. Kharge will also organize dinner for MPs of India Alliance on Monday. Jagdeep Dhankhar, citing health reasons, suddenly resigned as Vice President on the evening of August 4, although there is a continuous discussion about other reasons behind his resignation.
Strong status of NDA alliance
The effective number of both houses is 781. The winning candidate for the post of Vice President will have to get 391 votes, provided all the eligible voters use their franchise. All members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha vote in the Vice Presidential elections. These include nominated members. It seems that there are about 422 members in favor of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The Election Commission has issued the previous notification for the Vice Presidential election to be held on 9 September. The process of election of Dhankhar’s successor has started. Election Officer, Rajya Sabha General Secretary PC Modi received three nomination papers for the election, who were rejected due to non -order. The last date for filing nomination papers is 21 August. The documents will be examined on 22 August. The last date for withdrawal of nomination is 25 August.
