Vice-Presidential polls | With EC confirming date, Kharge to soon begin consultations with I.N.D.I.A. parties

Sources indicated that they are unlikely to settle for a consensus candidate suggested by Centre, as they do not expect an agreeable name from the ruling side and with Bihar polls just months away, they also do not want to send any wrong political signal.

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will soon start consultation with I.N.D.I.A parties on the bloc's strategy for the Vice Presidential election and possible eminent personalities who could be chosen as their candidate, sources said on Friday, as the Election Commission set September 9 as the polling day.

Opposition sources indicated that they are unlikely to settle for a consensus candidate suggested by the government, as they do not expect an agreeable name from the ruling side and with Bihar polls just months away, they also do not want to send any wrong political signal.

The talks between the parties are likely to gather pace only after August 7 when the notification for the election will be issued. Sources said the Opposition would wait for the NDA candidate before finalising its candidate. Opposition sources said the BJP is likely to choose an "BJP-RSS insider" as the experiment with an "outsider" Jagdeep Dhankhar had not gone well.

When asked whether the Opposition would settle for a candidate suggested by the government, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "is a consensus possible with the Prime Minister? With Narendra Modi, no consensus is possible. He does not make any effort to create a consensus. Consensus is not created by the Opposition but by the government in power. In the past 11 years, there is no evidence to show that there he has made any effort to getting a consensus. With him it is my way or highway."

The Opposition is keen on a contest though the NDA has a clear edge in the electoral college with 427 in its support and the Opposition at least 323, including 12 AAP MPs who are not part of I.N.D.I.A. There are around 30 other MPs who are not aligned to NDA or I.N.D.I.A.

A senior Opposition leader said it is not necessary that the Opposition should allow an uncontested election. "In 2002, when almost the entire opposition supported NDA Presidential candidate Abdul Kalam, the Left had fielded Captain Laxmi against him fully knowing they do not have numbers," the leader said.

Also, the Vice Presidential elections have been uncontested only four times -- 1952, 1957, 1979 and 1987. "It is well known that in 2022 also we did not have numbers. But we fielded Margaret Alva against Jagdeep Dhankhar, whose surprise resignation has led to this election," the leader said.

DH had earlier reported that non-Congress opposition parties have indicated that the Congress should not impose its candidate on the bloc, as such a course of action could alienate parties like AAP as well as non-aligned parties like YSR Congress, BRS, BJD, AIMIM and ASP (Kanshiram) among others.

The fielding of Alva, a veteran Congress leader, in 2022 had prompted Trinamool Congress to announce that it would not be voting in the Vice Presidential election, protesting against the "way in which" the candidate was chosen "without proper consultation. Thirty-four Trinamool MPs did not vote but two rebels voted for NDA. Alva lost to Dhankhar 528-182 .