Vice-presidential poll: Gopalkrishna Gandhi is Opposition's nominee

The Opposition leaders are meeting in Delhi to make a strategy for the upcoming Vice-presidential poll. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been convening the meeting.

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Vice-presidential poll: Gopalkrishna Gandhi is Opposition's nominee

Vice-president poll: Opposition’s meeting begins in Parliament (Source: PTI)

The Opposition's parties on Tuesday declared Gopalkrishna Gandhi as their candidate for the upcoming vice-presidential poll. Gandhi was the 22nd Governor of West Bengal and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi’s name was the only name discussed when 18 opposition parties met on Tuesday to decide on their candidate for the vice presidential poll.

The JD(U), which had broken ranks with the opposition over the presidential poll, also attended the meeting which chose Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson to be its nominee for vice president.

Polling for the vice president’s post will take place on August 5 if required. The votes will be counted the same evening.

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Opposition parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress, Left, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bahujan Samajwadi Party and Samajwadi Party took part in the meeting.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, TMC’s Derek O’Brien, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, SP’s Naresh Agarwal, NC’s Omar Abdullah, JD(S)’ Deve Gowda, BSP’s Satish Chandra Mishra and RLD’s Ajit Singh were among those who attended the meeting.

Others who participated in the meet include Jai Prakash Yadav of the RJD, Hemant Soren of the JMM, D Raja of the CPI and representatives of the CMK, the NCP, the Kerala Congress.

At the start of the meeting, 'silence' was observed in the Parliament over the recent terror attack on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims wherein seven were killed.

congress Opposition Vice-president poll