Margaret Alva is Opposition’s Vice President candidate

Margaret Alva is Opposition’s Vice President candidate

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 17, 2022: Former Union minister and four-time Governor Margaret Alva is the Opposition’s choice for the post of Vice President of India, veteran political leader Sharad Pawar announced after an opposition meeting this afternoon. The NDA has picked Jagdeep Dhankhar - the former Governor of Bengal - as its candidate for the post.

Born in Mangaluru on the 14th April 1942 to her proud parents, father – Late P.A. Nazareth and Mother – E. L. Nazareth. She obtained a BA degree from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore and a law degree from Government Law College in Bangalore.

Despite hailing from coastal Karnataka and representing the current Uttara Kannada (then known as Kanara) Lok Sabha constituency in Parliament in 1999, Margaret Alva has largely been identified as a national politician.

Shortly after the announcement, Ms Alva tweeted: "It is a privilege and an honour to be nominated as the candidate of the joint opposition for the post of Vice President of India. I accept this nomination with great humility and thank the leaders of the opposition for the faith they’ve put in me".

It is a privilege and an honour to be nominated as the candidate of the joint opposition for the post of Vice President of India. I accept this nomination with great humility and thank the leaders of the opposition for the faith they’ve put in me.

Jai Hind 🇮🇳

— Margaret Alva (@alva_margaret) July 17, 2022

"Margaret Alva, former Governor, former Union Minister, long time MP and very distinguished representative of India’s wonderful diversity is the common Opposition candidate for Vice-President," tweeted senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh.

Margaret Alva, 77, has served as the 17th Governor of Goa, the 23rd Governor of Gujarat, the 20th Governor of Rajasthan and the fourth Governor of Uttarakhand. A five-time parliamentarian, she served as a Cabinet Minister in the government headed by Rajiv Gandhi.

The term of Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu - who won the election comfortably in 2017 - ends on August 10. A former BJP president, Mr Naidu was a Cabinet minister in the Central government at the time.

The Vice-Presidential polls will be held on August 6 - days after the Presidential election on July 18.

The Presidential race will be between Jharkhand’s former Governor Droupadi Murmu and the opposition candidate, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.