The Aam Aadmi Party will back joint Opposition candidate Margaret Alva in the upcoming polls to elect the Vice President of India, the party's MP Sanjay Singh said after a meeting of AAP's political affairs committee today.
"A meeting of the Political Affairs Committee was held under the chairmanship of Aam Aadmi Party's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. It was discussed in detail who will the Aam Aadmi Party support in the election of the Vice President. Arvind Kejriwal and the members of the PAC have unanimously decided that we will support Margaret Alva, who is the opposition candidate, in the election of the Vice President. All our Rajya Sabha MPs will vote for them on 6th," he said.
Ms Alva thanked Arvind Kejriwal and all leaders and MPs of AAP for their support.
AAP had earlier also supported the joint opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha in the Presidential election.
The NDA has picked Jagdeep Dhankhar -- the former Governor of Bengal -- as its candidate for the post.
Earlier in the day, the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) announced support for Ms Alva. Shiv Sena has also pledged its support to Ms Alva.
However, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) which went with the government's Presidential pick earlier, today declared support for their vice-presidential candidate as well. Party chief Mayawati announced support for Jagdeep Dhankhar “in view of larger public interest”.
Trinamool Congress, in a surprise move, has decided to abstain from voting in the Vice Presidential elections. The party had brought together opposition parties to back its candidate Yashwant Sinha in the election for the President.
Margaret Alva, 77, has served as the Governor of Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and 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.
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