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INDIA bloc to contest VP polls, Cong in talks with allies: Sources

At the INDIA meeting, Rahul Gandhi gave a presentation on the 'vote chori model' being allegedly perpetrated by the BJP through EC.

PTI

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The vice presidential poll will be conducted on 9 September.

New Delhi, 10 Aug

The INDIA will put up a joint candidate for the vice presidential polls and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is reaching out to opposition parties to explore names and reach a consensus on it, sources said Sunday.

They said that there was a strong feeling in the bloc that Opposition parties should not shy away from a contest to send a strong political message irrespective of the outcome.

Though there has not been any structured discussion on picking a candidate, backchannel talks are on among INDIA partners to deliberate on names of possible candidates with Kharge reaching out to opposition parties for building a consensus.

There is consensus among parties that the INDIA bloc will put up a joint candidate for the vice presidential polls, Congress sources said. However, a section in the opposition camp believes that the INDIA bloc must decide their candidate after the BJP announces its pick.

This comes at a time of heightened unity among INDIA bloc constituents, who have vowed to fight against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral (SIR) rolls in Bihar and alleged poll rigging.

In a show of unity, top INDIA bloc leaders held a dinner meeting at the residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and vowed to fight the electoral rolls' revision in Bihar as well as what they described as the "vote chori model" of the BJP-Election Commission.

This was the first physical meeting of top leaders of the opposition bloc since they last met in June 2024, soon after the Lok Sabha elections at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.

During the meeting, Gandhi gave a presentation on the "vote chori model" being allegedly perpetrated by the BJP through the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, Kharge will also host a dinner for INDIA bloc MPs on Monday.

In a sudden move, Jagdeep Dhankhar quit as vice president on the evening of August 4 citing medical reasons, though there have been consistent murmurs about other reasons behind his resignation.

The Election Commission last Thursday issued a notification for the 9 September vice presidential poll, kickstarting the exercise to elect Dhankhar's successor.

According to the notification, 21 August is the last date for filing nominations and the documents will be scrutinised on 22 August. The last date for the withdrawal of nominations is 25 August.