Opposition to meet on July 17 to decide Vice Presidential candidate

Top Opposition leaders will meet on Sunday to decide on their Vice Presidential candidate.

Sources said the meeting will take place after the all-party meet called by the government to discuss the functioning of Parliament during the Monsoon Session.

Congress has already informed other parties that they do not have a candidate in mind.

The Opposition leaders were to meet earlier this week but they decided to postpone it, as it wanted to wait for the government’s candidate.

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Senior Opposition leaders have initiated dialogue between them and efforts are on to zero in on a “credible” face who is willing to fight a battle that is likely to lose. “We need to put up a political fight. The results are a foregone conclusion. But we are not in for an uncontested election,” a senior Opposition leader said.

Referring to the outgoing Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, senior Rajya Sabha MP and Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “so it is curtains for Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu-garu. His humour and wit will be missed. On many occasions he got the Opposition all agitated, but at the end of it a good man exits. He may have retired, but I know he will not be tired.”