Margaret Alva, a candidate for the vice presidency from the opposition, will have the support of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the party declared on Friday.
The incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidu’s term ends on August 10, hence elections for vice president are scheduled for August 6.
“The parliamentary leader of TRS said the party president K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to support the combined Opposition’s candidate Margaret Alva,” said Party leader in Rajya Sabha Keshav Rao.
“TRS has a total of 16 MPs in the parliament and has been advised to vote accordingly after consulting all the MPs,” he added.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) announces support for opposition candidate Margaret Alva for the vice-Presidential election pic.twitter.com/KG8zGVtdZq
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2022
On July 19, Alva submitted her nomination for the vice presidential race. On July 17, opposition groups resolved to run the former governor of Rajasthan for vice president as a joint candidate. At a gathering of 17 opposition party leaders at the home of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, the decision was made to run Alva.
The West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, on the other hand, has been put out as the joint candidate for Vice President by the ruling NDA.
Dhankar, a lawyer by training, started his political career in 1989. In July 2019, he was appointed governor of West Bengal, and ever since, his contentious interactions with the Mamata Banerjee administration have garnered media attention.