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AAP, JMM and RJD back Alva, BSP supports Dhankhar for V-P election
To be sure, Dhankhar is almost certain to win anyway since the NDA has an overwhelming majority in the two Houses of Parliament which form the electoral college for the vice-presidential poll.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday declared its support for joint opposition candidate Margaret Alva in the vice-presidential election slated to be held on August 6.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), however, decided to back the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar in the poll.
The political affairs committee (PAC) of AAP “unanimously” decided to support Alva after a meeting chaired by its national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
The AAP has 10 MPs in the Upper House and none in the Lower House following Bhagwant Mann’s resignation after he became chief minister of Punjab in March this year.
Also read: Punjab: AAP councillor shot dead in Malerkotla, cops suspect personal enmity
“Under the chairmanship of AAP national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, a meeting of the political affairs committee of AAP was held today. During the meeting, the PAC held an extensive discussion over the party’s stand in the Vice Presidential election,” Singh told reporters after the meeting.
“The PAC and its chairman, Kejriwal, have unanimously decided to support the joint opposition candidate Margaret Alva in the forthcoming elections. All of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs will be voting for Alva on August 6,” he added.
On July 23, Alva had visited Kejriwal and sought his support for her candidature.
The meeting, at Kejriwal’s residence in North Delhi’s Civil Lines on Wednesday, was attended by the party’s top brass to also discuss issues of national political importance, Singh said.
The JMM also extended its support to the former governor.
In a statement, party president Shibu Soren asked its parliamentarians to vote in favour of Alva during the August 6 election.
“...All the MPs are directed to vote for the vice-president candidate Margaret Alva in the upcoming polls on August 6,” the statement said.
The party has a total of three MPs – two in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha.
RJD’s Bihar unit president Jagdanand Singh said the party will back Alva in the poll.
“We will support opposition candidate Margaret Alva for the Vice President’s post. Our party cannot support any candidate being backed by divisive forces,” Singh said.
The RJD has five Rajya Sabha MPs and none in the Lok Sabha.
BSP president Mayawati announced her party’s support for Dhankhar.
“In view of the larger public interest and its own movement, the BSP has decided to extend its support to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar in the election for the post of Vice President, which I am also formally announcing today,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.
The BSP has 10 MPs in Lok Sabha
In the Presidential election on July 18, the AAP and RJD had supported opposition’s candidate Yashwant Sinha while the JMM and BSP broke ranks to back NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu.
Murmu received 64.03% votes and became the 15th President of India.
Sinha, on the other hand, received 35.97% votes, triggering claims of cross voting and bringing to focus the deepening rifts in the Opposition camp.
Alva has called for unity in the August 6 election. Last month, she also reached out to key NDA leaders, including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Karnataka chief ministers Basavaraj Bommai for support.
Also read: AAP releases list of 10 candidates for 2022 Gujarat assembly elections
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has decided to abstain from the August 6 election on the ground that it was not consulted before Alva was picked as the Opposition nominee.
The TMC is the second-largest opposition party in Parliament, with 23 Lok Sabha and 13 Rajya Sabha members, after the Congress.
To be sure, Dhankhar is almost certain to win anyway since the NDA has an overwhelming majority in the two Houses of Parliament which form the electoral college for the vice-presidential poll.
Unlike the presidential election, only MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are eligible to vote to elect India’s Vice President.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu’s term is slated to end on August 10.
