Vice President Election 2022: Trinamool Congress will abstain from Vice President election, said senior party leader Abhishek Banerjee, adding the party was not kept in the loop when the Opposition selected a face for the polls.
NDA has nominated former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the election. Opposition parties on Sunday decided to field former Rajasthan governor Margaret Alva as their joint candidate for the poll.
"There is no question of supporting the NDA candidate, especially Jagdeep Dhankhar. But after today's meeting with party lawmakers, it has been decided that we will abstain from the vice presidential election," Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress national general secretary, said.
"We disagree with the process of announcing the Opposition candidate without keeping TMC in the loop. We were neither consulted nor was anything discussed with us. So we can't support the Opposition nominee," he added.
Opposition's vice-presidential candidate Margaret Alva on Tuesday filed her nomination papers at Parliament in the presence of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and other Opposition leaders.
July 19 was the last date for submission of nominations for the vice presidential election. "It's a tough election without a doubt, but I'm not afraid to take on the challenge," she had said on Monday while thanking opposition parties who have supported her candidature.
Alva, 80, is pitted against NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned as West Bengal governor after being nominated on Saturday evening. Former Rajasthan governor and Congress veteran Alva was unanimously chosen as the joint opposition candidate for the post of vice president on Sunday.
All MPs of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including nominated members, comprise the electoral college for the vice president's election.
Also Read: Vice president election: Margaret Alva files nomination as Opposition's candidate
