I.N.D.I.A. to Field Joint Candidate for VP Election

 New Delhi: The I.N.D.I.A. bloc will field a joint candidate for the upcoming vice-presidential polls, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reaching out to Opposition parties to explore possible names and build consensus, sources said on Sunday. They added that there is a strong sentiment within the bloc that the Opposition should not shy away from a contest, regardless of the outcome, to send a strong political message. Kharge is also scheduled to host a dinner for I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies on Monday.

Although no formal discussions have yet been held on finalising a candidate, backchannel talks are underway among bloc partners to deliberate on potential names. Congress sources said there is agreement among the parties that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will put up a joint candidate for the vice-presidential elections.

However, some in the Opposition camp believe the bloc should wait for the BJP to announce its nominee before finalising its own. This development comes amid heightened unity among INDIA bloc members, who have pledged to oppose the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged poll rigging. In a show of solidarity, top I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders met for dinner at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s residence on Thursday, vowing to resist the revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls and what they described as the BJP-Election Commission’s “vote chori model.”

This was the first in-person meeting of top opposition leaders since June 2024, when they met at Kharge’s residence soon after the Lok Sabha elections.

The meeting was attended by leaders from 25 parties, including Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, NCP–SP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva and T.R. Baalu, CPI(M)’s M.A. Baby, CPI’s D. Raja, CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, and MNM chief Kamal Haasan.