New Delhi: Former Union Minister and ex-Rajasthan governor Margaret Alva has been announced as the vice presidential candidate for the opposition party in 2020 on Sunday.
The announcement came a day after National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced West Bengal governer Jagdeep Dhankhar as their candidate for the forthcoming VP polls.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar announced Alva’s name as the opposition vice Prez candidate on Sunday.
“We are trying to contact Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Last time they supported our joint presidential candidate”, Pawar told news agency PTI.
“17 parties are on board for this unanimous decision. Our collective thinking is Alva will file VP nomination on Tuesday”, he added.
Alva was picked as oppositions’s VP candidate in a meeting held at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence, which was attended by 17 opposition parties.
Senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP’s Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, CPIM’s Sitaram Yechury, SP’s Ramgopal Yadav, and RJD’s AD Singh were reportedly present in the meeting.
Meanwhile, BJP chief JP Nadda had announced Dhakhar’s name as NDA’s pick for the next VP of India after party’s parliamentary board meeting in Delhi on Saturday.
For the unversed, Alva is a native from Rajasthan. She has served 4th Governor of Uttarakhand, as the 17th Governor of Goa, and 23rd Governor of Gujarat in her long political career.
