TRS to vote for joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva in vice-presidential poll

New Delhi [India], August 5 (ANI): Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Friday announced to support Opposition's candidate Margaret Alva for the vice-presidential elections.
The vice-presidential polls are slated to be held on August 6 as the tenure of incumbent M. Venkaiah Naidu comes to an end on August 10.
"The parliamentary leader of TRS said the party president K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to support the combined Opposition's candidate Margaret Alva," Party leader in Rajya Sabha Keshav Rao told ANI.
"TRS has a total of 16 MPs in the parliament and has been advised to vote accordingly after consulting all the MPs," he added.
Alva filed her nomination for the vice presidential election on July 19. Opposition parties on July 17 decided to field the former Rajasthan Governor as their joint candidate for the vice presidential election.
The decision to field Alva was taken at a meeting of opposition leaders of 17 parties at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.
On the other hand, the ruling NDA has fielded West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its joint candidate for the post of Vice President.
Dhankar, who is a lawyer by profession, entered politics in 1989. He became the governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has made headlines since then over his tumultuous relations with the Mamata Banerjee government. He tendered his resignation as the Governor of West Bengal following the nomination for the vice president post.
The vice president of India, which is the second-highest constitutional post in the country, is elected through an electoral college consisting of members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress said that the party will abstain from voting in the upcoming Vice Presidential poll. In 2017, the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India's 15th vice president.
Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said that a meeting will be held on August 5 regarding the upcoming vice-presidential polls. Addressing the media persons after attending the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting, Joshi said, "We will be meeting again on August 5 regarding vice-presidential polls." (ANI)