Calculations galore as I.N.D.I.A bloc looks for its Vice President candidate

New Delhi: With the vice-presidential election set to be announced soon, the I.N.D.I.A bloc will be exploring a consensus candidate, keen to avoid a repeat of the 2022 episode when the Trinamool Congress did not side with the Opposition and shunned voting, owing to the candidate's Congress background.

Non-Congress Opposition parties have indicated that the Congress should not impose its candidate on the bloc, as it could alienate parties like the AAP, YSR Congress, BRS, BJD, AIMIM, and the ASP (Kanshiram).

The fielding of Congress veteran Margaret Alva in 2022 had prompted the Trinamool Congress to announce that it would not be voting in the Vice President election in protest against how the candidate was chosen "without proper consultation".

Thirty-four Trinamool MPs did not vote, but two rebels voted for the NDA. Alva lost to Jagdeep Dhankhar 528-182. If all Opposition MPs, barring Trinamool, had voted, Alva would have polled 198 votes.

Then CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury proposed Alva's candidature in a meeting of Opposition leaders on July 17, 2022, after consulting Sonia Gandhi.

While the AAP and some others announced their support in the following days, Congress sources claimed the Trinamool's charges were baseless as Mamata Banerjee had told Sonia she had no names to suggest.

While the V-P election's outcome is a foregone conclusion, with the ruling BJP-led NDA having the support of 427 MPs in an electoral college of 782 at present, the Opposition wants to force a political and ideological contest. 

This time, the I.N.D.I.A bloc could get 323 votes, including 12 from AAP MPs, owing to the better electoral performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Opposition could add around 30 votes if it manages to sway non-aligned parties like the YSR Congress, BRS, BJD, AIMIM, ASP (Kanshiram), BSP, VoPP, and ZPM.

A decision on the Opposition candidate is likely to come after the NDA names its preference. With the Bihar Assembly polls just months away, the Opposition does not want to send any wrong signal by ceding political space to the NDA.

With Dhankhar's dramatic resignation on Monday night prompting this fresh election, Trinamool sources said the Congress should think of a non-Congress face so that the Opposition bloc can win over "fencesitters". The regional outfit expects that the main Opposition party will display the political acumen to do so. 

A senior Congress leader admitted that his party should shed its vocal advocacy for a Congress face. He indicated that the party does not want any disruption in the unity.

The Congress believes that Dhankhar's resignation has caused perception problems in the BJP, and that it should capitalise on it and not divert attention by triggering trouble in the I.N.D.I.A bloc.

AAP sources said it was too early to speak about preferences, and would respond at the appropriate time.