Opposition's VP nominee Margaret Alva has never shied away from fight for ideology

When the Opposition wanted a strong and credible candidate for an otherwise losing battle, they turned to Margaret Alva and she did not disappoint them. For her, the fight for ideology and conviction is one thing that she never shies away from, irrespective of what is in store for her.

A charming leader who earned the name of a performer, she minced no words and was prepared to lose to stand her ground -- she never compromised in her 80 years of life.

That's why she went public accusing her party colleagues in home state Karnataka in 2008 that they were selling tickets. One may argue that she was pained that her son Nivedith was denied a ticket but she pointed out, sons and daughters of leaders in Karnataka and other states got tickets.

Read | Margaret Alva is Opposition's pick for Vice President

“Nivedith had been deliberately left out, in a bid to sideline me,” she recalled in her autobiography 'Courage and Commitment', adding she was not included in the list of star campaigners.

Her outburst cost her Congress General Secretary post and clout in the AICC but she would not bow down. In her autobiography, Alva recalled that senior leader A K Antony had a role in it, as she had recommended his removal as Kerala Chief Minister earlier. However, she was later sent to Uttarakhand as Governor and later to Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa.

In Parliament for the first time in 1974 at the age of 30, she did not look back and was in Rajya Sabha till 1998. She learned the ropes of politics from her in-laws Joachim and Violet Alva, who were MPs.

In between, Rajiv Gandhi chose her in his Ministry. Same was the case with P V Narasimha Rao too.

She was in the thick of party and government. She recalls a meeting she had with Cuba's Fidel Castro, who chose her to convey a warning about V P Singh to Rajiv Gandhi.

Castro told her that Rajiv must follow his mother Indira Gandhi's footsteps and otherwise he would land in trouble. Then the warning came, " tell him not to trust his finance minister (V P Singh). He is conspiring against him. He will stab him in the back. He is a dangerous man. Rajiv must be careful.” When Alva told him Singh was Rajiv's friend and the latter depended on him, Castro told her, "“That is not good, not good.”

Born in Mangaluru in 1942, she was an active debator in her school and college days. Before she entered active politics, she practised law.

She also had one term in Lok Sabha when she won the 1999 polls but in 2004, she lost the electoral battle.

"It is a privilege and an honour to be nominated as the candidate of the joint Opposition for the post of Vice President of India. I accept this nomination with great humility and thank the leaders of the Opposition for the faith they’ve put in me. Jai Hind," Alva tweeted soon after the Opposition parties announced her name.