Opposition Leaders To Huddle At Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's Residence Today To Decide Their Vice Presidential Candidate

New Delhi: A day after the BJP-led NDA declared Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as its candidate for the post of Vice President, senior Opposition leaders got into a huddle at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence to decide their nominee. However, the meeting remained inconclusive and TMC MP Derek O'Brien said another meeting would be held at Kharge’s residence at 12.30 pm on Tuesday.

All through the day there were a buzz that DMK MP Tiruchi Siva could be the Opposition candidate, as his party had demanded that like Radhakrishnan, their candidate too should be from Tamil Nadu. The meeting, however, was not able to pick him as easily. The opposition meeting was attended among others by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, NCP(SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena(UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, TMC's O’Brien, DMK MP Kanimozhi, and JMM MP Mahua Maji.

About The Vacancy

The post of Vice-President had fallen vacant following the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, who had announced his decision to step down on July 21, the first day of the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament. Subsequently, on August 7, the Election Commission had notified the schedule for the Vice Presidential election, nominations for which can be filed by August 21 and voting for which is scheduled for September 9.

The BJP had earlier scotched rumours around the NDA candidate being drawn from the JD(U) or one of its other allies and made it clear that, following Dhankar’s exit, it would want one of its own party leaders to occupy the post. With the saffron party eyeing an increased presence in the South and especially in Tamil Nadu, where its advance has not been up to its expectations, Radhakrishnan was chosen to project BJP is giving greater importance to the state. One of the tallest BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu, the two-term MP from Coimbatore had also served as the party’s state unit chief.

While announcing his name, BJP chief JP Nadda had urged the opposition parties to support him. However, as in 2022 when the opposition had pitched former Congress leader Margret Alva against Dhankhar, this time too it decided to meet to decide who would stand up against Radhakrishnan. The numbers, though, are still in favour of the NDA, which has a total of 422 MPs in both Houses of Parliament whose combined strength is 786. While the TMC did not support the Opposition candidate in 2022, it has stated that it does not want a political face fielded for the post this time.