New Delhi: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday announced Margaret Alva as the Vice Presidential candidate ahead of the upcoming elections slated in August.
NCP Chief Sharad Pawar during the press briefing said that “We tried to contact West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee but she was busy with some conference. We also tried to contact Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He announced support (for Yashwant Sinha) a few days ago & will announce his support (for Margaret Alva) soon,”.
The decision came after a meeting attended by the major opposition parties including Trinamool Congress, NCP, Congress, RJP, and others.
Margaret Alva took to Twitter and added “It is a privilege and an honour to be nominated as the candidate of the joint opposition for the post of Vice President of India.”
Who is Margaret Alva
Alva, the former Governor of Rajasthan, has been named as the candidate who will go up against Jagdeep Dhankhar, the NDA backed candidate on August 6th for the post of Vice President.
Margaret Alva hails from Mangalore and has been part of the Rajya Sabha for six consecutive terms from 1974. She has held important positions in the Rajiv Gandhi government like the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.
She has been part of several important committees in parliament like the Committee on Public Bodies, (COPU), the Public Accounts Committee, (PAC), the Standing Committee on External Affairs Committee, Tourism and Transport.
Alva has served as the governor for Gujarat, Rajasthan, Goa and Uttarakhand. She was a prominent leader in the Indian National Congress before being appointed as Governor.
(With Agency Inputs)