NEW DELHI: Determined not to repeat its past mistakes, the Opposition INDIA bloc plans to field a joint candidate for the upcoming Vice Presidential (VP) election following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Sources indicate that the bloc would announce its nominee only after the ruling NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) confirms its candidate. A meeting of the Opposition bloc leaders is expected soon to pick a ‘consensus candidate’ as it wants to give a ‘spirited fight’.
In the last VP election in 2022, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) refused to support senior Congress leader Margaret Alva, who was pitted against the NDA’s Jagdeep Dhankhar, as the Opposition candidate. Alva's nomination was approved after a meeting of 17 political parties. However, the TMC didn’t attend the meeting and it had also abstained from voting in the election. The announcement of Alva’s name had even come as a surprise for many Congress leaders.
“The matter will be discussed with all INDIA bloc members. We don’t want a repeat of the last election’s situation when the TMC decided to abstain. We will put up a united front. All parties are on board… In both the House, the Opposition has a good presence; 40-60 ratio. We should fight. The party will actively be engaging with its allies to build consensus around a common nominee,” said a senior Congress functionary.
"Let the government announce its candidate, we will come up with our nominee subsequently," the Congress leader added.
TMC sources also indicated that the party would go with the candidate decided by the INDIA bloc collectively in the election. “This time we are clear; we are onboard with all alliance partners,” said TMC leaders.
At least 30 parties teamed up and formed the INDIA bloc in 2023 to challenge the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The INDIA bloc has 235 MPs in the Lok Sabha, while its strength in the Rajya Sabha is 78.
Following the sudden resignation of Dhankhar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday initiated the process to elect the next VP. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), through a gazette notification dated 22 July, formally notified Dhankhar’s resignation, paving the way for the electoral process to fill the constitutional vacancy. Political parties are expecting a notification pertaining to a formal schedule for the election in a couple of days.
The Opposition alliance members also suggested that the unceremonious exit of Dhankhar would be used to target the BJP as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described him as the son of a farmer.
“The son of a farmer has been insulted. No farewell was permitted. This has hurt our farmers. Definitely, we are going to raise this issue in the election. At least, we want to send a strong message to the government and the country as well,” said a leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM).
Dhankhar stepped down as the vice president on Monday, citing health reasons. His term was to end on August 10, 2027.