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‘Cast your vote without fear...’: Margaret Alva's message to MPs ahead of vice president polls
As secret ballot is used for V-P polls, members should vote for who they think is the better candidate, instead of simply following their party's line, Alva, the joint opposition's candidate, said in a video message two days before the election.
Two days before members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha cast their votes to elect the 14th vice president of India, the joint opposition's nominee Margaret Alva, in a video message on Thursday, urged them to vote for a candidate of their choice ‘without fear’ as party whip is not applicable in V-P polls.
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“It's a privilege and an honour for me to be a candidate in the election to the post of the vice president of India, supported by a large number of political parties,” Alva said, also detailing her work as a member of both Houses, as well as Union minister and governor, over the last 50 years.
Alva – a former governor of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Goa, respectively – remarked that the vice presidential election is ‘not just any other election’.
“It should be seen as a referendum on the manner in which the Parliament is being run. Today, it is virtually at a standstill, with communication between members non-existent. This diminishes Parliament in the eyes of the people,” she explained.
Pitching herself as the right candidate to be the next holder of the country's second highest office, the former Congress leader urged MPs to use their secret ballot to choose ‘the best candidate available’ without pressure from their political parties.
Alva vowed that if elected as the successor to M Venkaiah Naidu – whose term ends on August 10 – she would forge consensus on issues of national importance, and work with each parliamentarian to restore the glory of Parliament.
For the August 6 polls, she is pitted against the BJP-led ruling NDA's nominee, Jagdeep Dhankhar, who, by virtue of being fielded by the ruling party, is expected to win. Unlike presidential polls, in which MPs as well as MLAs vote, only MPs elect the vice president, who is also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
However, in both cases, a ‘whip’ is not applicable, i.e. electors can vote for a candidate of their choice, even if their party has declared support for another candidate.
