AAP, JMM To Back Opposition Candidate Margaret Alva In Vice-Presidential Election

"We will support Opposition's candidate Margaret Alva in the upcoming Vice Presidential polls," AAP MP Sanjay Singh said.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday announced that it will support Opposition candidate Margaret Alva in the upcoming Vice-Presidential elections. "We will support Opposition's candidate Margaret Alva in the upcoming Vice Presidential polls," AAP MP Sanjay Singh told news agency ANI. AAP had also supported the joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha in the Presidential election.

The development comes soon after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) too announced its support for Malva for the August 6 polls. In a statement, party supremo Shibu Soren asked its parliamentarians to vote in favour of former Union minister Alva during the elections. The JMM has three MPs, 2 in the Rajya Sabha and 1 in the Lok Sabha.

JMM has supported NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the July 18 presidential election.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA has fielded former governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its nominee for the vice presidential election 2022. Alva met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to seek AAP's support on July 30. Around 20 Opposition parties have decided to field Alva as their VP candidate against NDA's Dhankhar.

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) has decided to abstain from voting in the poll to elect the next Vice President of India.

On August 1, Alva wrote to all MPs saying, if elected, she will work to build bridges between different political parties, forge consensus on national issues and help restore the glory of Parliament.

In a letter to all members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Alva pointed out that the vice president's election must be seen as a referendum on the manner in which Parliament is being run and the breakdown in the fundamental democratic process of building consensus on important national issues.

"If elected Vice President, I commit myself to work tirelessly to uphold the Constitution and to strengthen our parliamentary democracy. As Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, I will work to build bridges between different political parties, forge consensus on issues of national importance, and help restore the glory of Parliament," she told the MPs in her appeal.