TRS announces support to Alva, TDP to Dhankhar in V-P poll

In Andhra Pradesh, main opposition Telugu Desam Party headed by former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, decided to extend support to Jagdeep Dhankhar

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Friday announced its support to Vice-Presidential candidate Margaret Alva, common candidate of opposition parties. The elections for the post will be held on Saturday.

NDA's Vice-Presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda and defence minister Rajnath Singh after filing his nomination for the election, at Parliament House, in New Delhi. (Arvind Yadav/Ht)

TRS parliamentary party leader K Kesava Rao in a statement here announced the support to Alva. “As per the directions of TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the party has decided to support the candidature of Margaret Alva for the post of Vice President of India,” Rao said, adding that all the 16 TRS party MPs would vote for her.

Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state, main opposition Telugu Desam Party headed by former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, decided to extend support to Bharatiya Janata Party’s official candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar.

On Wednesday, three Lok Sabha members of the TDP – Galla Jayadev, Kesineni Nani and K Rammohan Naidu and lone Rajya Sabha member Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar – met Dhankar at the residence of Union minister Pralhad Joshi and extended their support to him.

The party MPs also met Union minister Amit Shah, who was present at Joshi’s house and informed him about their decision to support Dhankhar.

The ruling YSR Congress Party headed by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has already announced its support to Dhankhar.

Interestingly, both the YSRC and the TDP extended their support to the BJP in the Presidential elections as well. All the 175 MPs in the state voted for Droupadi Murmu in the elections held on July 18.