Opposition treads lightly for Vice Presidential election nominee

The Congress has made it clear that it wouldn’t field any candidate from the party; the Trinamool Congress, the second-largest Opposition party, has signalled it is ‘not rushing this time’.

After the Opposition’s hunt for a presidential candidate saw three possible picks refusing to contest, and some key non-NDA constituents turning non-committal after the ruling alliance named tribal leader Droupadi Murmu as its choice, opposition parties are treading cautiously on the vice-presidential polls scheduled to be held on August 6.

The incumbent Venkaiah Naidu’s term ends on August 10 (FILE)

The Congress has made it clear that it wouldn’t field any candidate from the party; the Trinamool Congress, the second-largest Opposition party, has signalled it is “not rushing this time”; and a senior Left leader, usually active in such issues, said: “Our focus is to bring all opposition parties on board.”

According to senior opposition leaders, Rajya Sabha’s leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Khrage and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury are among the strategists who are in talks with other opposition leaders. “We are talking to different opposition leaders for a unified approach. No names have been discussed so far,” a Congress leader said, asking not to be named.

An opposition floor leader, currently in New York, has also been contacted by a Congress leader for discussions on the vice-president poll, people aware of the matter said.

But four opposition leaders told HT that the informal talks between Opposition constituents are entirely focused on building a consensus, and not a single name has come up so far for consideration. “We are taking a different approach from what we did in the presidential poll discussions,” said one of the leaders.

For the presidential poll, the Opposition faced a setback after three candidates — Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi — refused the offer to contest, before the Opposition picked former finance minister Yashwant Sinha as its joint candidate.

There is also thinking in a section of the Opposition that they must wait for the government to come up with its proposal, and field a candidate only after that. “We have no candidate in mind. We want to first hear what the government’s proposal is as far as the candidate is concerned,” a second leader said.

While many opposition parties are determined to field a candidate, a few leaders don’t rule out another “Murmu moment” with the NDA’s choice putting some Opposition parties in a tight spot. The Akali Dal, in spite of quitting the NDA, has announced support for Murmu. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, an opposition outfit that is in power in Jharkhand, is also likely to support India’s first tribal woman set to become President.

The Biju Janata Dal, and the YSRCP have also announced support to Murmu, comfortably taking her past the victory margin in the electoral college.

Unlike the presidential election, where the Bharatiya Janata Party needs the support of allies and friendly parties, it has enough votes to ensure victory of the ruling dispensation’s candidate in the vice-presidential election. Only Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, including nominated lawmakers, vote in the vice-presidential poll. And between the two Houses, the BJP has 395 MPs, or votes -- seven more than the victory mark of 388.

Opposition leaders said that a formal meeting on the vice-presidential election will not take place before next week. The incumbent Venkaiah Naidu’s term ends on August 10.