Members of both the Houses of Parliament will elect the next Vice-President on Saturday. All preparations for the voting are over in Parliament House. Ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Opposition’s candidate Margaret Alva have reached out to all Members of Parliament, seeking their votes.
Mr. Dhankhar is a clear frontrunner as the NDA enjoys a majority in Lok Sabha and has a clear edge over the Opposition in Rajya Sabha. The former West Bengal Governor has also managed to create fissures in the Opposition camp as the Trinamool Congress decided to abstain from the polling. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged that Ms. Alva’s candidature was announced without any consultations with her party, a charge denied by the Opposition leaders.
The Opposition parties held several joint meetings over the campaign of Ms. Alva. The veteran Congress leader had personally sought the votes of almost all MPs, cutting across political lines. The Opposition has deputed three women MPs from Rajya Sabha – Rajani Patil, Vandana Chavan, and Kanimozhi NVN Somu — as polling agents. The Secretary General of the Lok Sabha is the returning officer for the election. The polling will take place till 5 p.m. and the results will also be announced on Saturday.
The 80-year-old Alva said if the Parliament was to function effectively, MPs, independent of their parties, must find ways to rebuild trust and restore broken communication among each other. “In the end, it is the MPs who determine the character of our Parliament,” Ms. Alva said in a appeal to MPs on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi also announced its support to Ms. Alva. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Aam Aadmi Party and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen have also supported Ms. Alva.
The 71-year-old Mr. Dhankhar, meanwhile, met NDA MPs at his house on Saturday. The NDA camp has been confident of his victory.
