Congress leader Margaret Alva, who is the opposition candidate for the vice-presidential election, has slammed Trinamool Congress for deciding to abstain from the polls. Yesterday TMC had said that it will abstain from the polls as the party was not consulted while selecting the opposition candidate.
The decision was taken by TMC after a party meeting chaired by party chief Mamata Banerjee. The party was unhappy that it was not consulted while choosing Margaret Alva as the candidate from the opposition for the poll of vice president.
Reacting to this decision of Trinamool, Margaret Alva today took to Twitter to criticise the party for the decision, saying it is disappointing. She added, “this isn’t the time for ‘whataboutery’, ego or anger. This is the time for courage, leadership & unity.”
Calling Mamata Banerjee the epitome of courage, Alva added that she believes that the Bengal CM will stand with the opposition.
Margaret Alva will be contesting against NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankar, the current governor of West Bengal. The election will take place on 6th August, and votes will be counted on the same day. In the election for the Vice-President, the members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha vote, including the nominated members of the upper house.
TMC’s decision to abstain from the election comes after a surprise meeting Jagdeep Dhankar had with Mamata Banerjee and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on 13th July at Summer Raj Bhawan in Darjeeling in North Bengal. The meeting was held days before Dhankar was announced as the NDA candidate.
While both the CMs had said that it was a courtesy call, many had raised curiosity on the unusual meeting. And after the announcement of Jagdeep Dhankar as the candidate for the vice president, it was speculated that the election was discussed in the meeting.