Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Margaret Alva is the Opposition's joint candidate for the vice presidential election, announced Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday.
The announcement came a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief JP Nadda said West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be NDA's candidate for the vice presidential election.
Who is Jagdeep Dhankhar?
Born on May 18, 1951, in Kithana, a small village in Rajasthan, Dhankhar is currently the Governor of West Bengal. A lawyer by profession, Dhankhar forayed into politics in 1989 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan that same year and became a Union Minister in 1990.
Dhankar, who practised in Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court, was designated a senior advocate in 1990, the same year he became a Union minister. He was also a member of the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha from 1993 to 1998 representing Kishangarh constituency.
He was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has since had a tumultuous relationship with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state.
The TMC leadership has often accused him of acting as an "agent of the BJP", while the BJP in the state looked upon him as an "upholder of constitutional norms".
On his part, Dhankar has claimed he has gone by the rule book in pointing out issues to the Mamata Banerjee-led government and the state legislature.
Who is Margaret Alva?
Born in Mangalore in 1942, Alva grew up in different parts of the former Madras Presidency, and imbibed the culture of the state, parts of which now belong to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Her father belonged to the Indian Civil Service. She was married into the Alva family, from Mangalore in South Canara, which has a composite culture.
She was drawn into the political scene while staying with her in-laws, both parliamentarians. She was elected for four successive terms to the Rajya Sabha, and one term in the Lok Sabha.
Alva assumed several responsibilities, under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao.
She was made Central Minister at the age of 42, which in those days was a rarity.
She has also served as the 17th Governor of Goa, 23rd Governor of Gujarat, 20th Governor of Rajasthan and 4th Governor of Uttarakhand until the end of her tenure in August 2014.
Who is likely to win?
The electoral college for picking the next vice president comprises members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Out of Parliament's current strength of 780, the BJP alone has 394 MPs, more than the majority mark of 390.
Hence, like in 2017 when both Ram Nath Kovind and M Venkaiah Naidu had won the polls comfortably to occupy the two highest constitutional posts of the country, the BJP-led NDA is again in a strong position to ensure the win of its candidates.
When is the election?
The last date for filing of nomination papers for the poll is July 19 and the election is scheduled for August 6.
(with PTI inputs)
