The opposition today announced former Rajasthan Governor Margaret Alvaas as their Vice Presidential candidate.
"17 parties are on board for this unanimous decision. Our collective thinking is Alva will file VP nomination on Tuesday," NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Sunday making the announcement.
The announcement comes a day after the BJP-led NDA announced Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for upcoming Presidential Polls.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at NCP president Sharad Pawar’s residence.
Who is Margaret Alwa?
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.
Before being appointed governor, she was a senior figure in the Indian National Congress and was Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee.
As a member of the Indian parliament from 1974 to 2004, she championed four major legislative amendments to strengthen women’ s rights in her homeland, including the devolution of more power to local government and the reservation of a third of local council seats for women.
Rajya Sabha:
Alva was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a representative of Congress in 1974 during which served a six-year term and was then re-elected for a further three six-year terms, in 1980, 1986 and 1992.
She also served terms as Union Minister of State in the ministries for Parliamentary Affairs (1984–85) and for Youth and Sports and Women and Child Development, an arm of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Lok Sabha:
Alva was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament in 1999 for the Uttara Kannada constituency, serving a five-year term.
Between 2004 and 2009, she served as General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee.
In August 2009, Alva became the first female Governor of Uttarakhand after her resignation from the Congress in 2008. She remained in the Uttrakhand Governor's post until May 2012, at which time she was appointed Governor of Rajasthan.
(with sources inputs)
