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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Wednesday declared its support for the opposition's vice presidential candidate Margaret Alva.
The vice-presidential poll is slated to be held on August 6 as the tenure of incumbent M Venkaiah Naidu comes to an end on August 10. The JMM released a communique for its leaders saying that '...All the MPs are directed to vote for the vice-president candidate Margaret Alva in the upcoming polls on August 6.' 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. Meanwhile, 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 into 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. (ANI)
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