Margaret Alva to Himanta on VP polls: 'I know what electoral college means'

• Image Credit: Internet

• Jul 24, 2022 | Kabir Chakraborty

According to Article 66 of the Indian Constitution, the Vice-President is chosen by the members of the Electoral College, which consists of representatives from both Houses of Parliament, using a single transferable vote and the proportional representation method. color:black;mso-themecolor:text1">

color:black;mso-themecolor:text1">Digital Desk: Margaret Alva is prepared to
run in the elections for Vice President on August 6, with support from the
opposition. In the midst of the Vice Presidential election campaign, the
five-term member of parliament reached out to three chief ministers on Sunday: Arvind
Kejriwal of Delhi, Himanta Biswa Sarma of Assam, and Basavaraj Bommai of
Karnataka.

mso-themecolor:text1">But shortly after, a Twitter conversation started. Prior
to then, Congressman Jairam Ramesh tweeted: "Smt. @alva margaret seized
control of her campaign headquarters at 1, Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla Lane today.
She addressed the chief ministers of Delhi, Assam, and Karnataka as part of her
vice presidential campaign.

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mso-themecolor:text1">But a BJP leader named Himanta Biswa Sarma responded to
the post. "This morning, I chatted with Smt. @alva Margaret. I informed
her formally that I don't belong to the electoral college. I therefore have no
influence over who becomes India's vice president "said he.

mso-themecolor:text1">Alva, 80, then gave her response. "I am contacting
political leaders from all parties as part of my VP campaign. Mr. Sarma and I
have known one other for a number of years and have collaborated sufficiently
for him to be aware that after 30 years in Parliament, I am familiar with the
electoral college. But we had a good conversation!

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color:black;mso-themecolor:text1">According to Article 66 of the Indian
Constitution, the Vice-President is chosen by the members of the Electoral
College, which consists of representatives from both Houses of Parliament,
using a single transferable vote and the proportional representation method.

color:black;mso-themecolor:text1">According to a government statement, the
current Electoral College will be made up of 543 elected members of the Lok
Sabha, 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, and 233 elected members of the
Rajya Sabha for the 2022 presidential elections.

color:black;mso-themecolor:text1">Jagdeep Dhankhar, a candidate for Alva, has
NDA support.

M.
Venkaiah Naidu, India's 15th vice president, will leave office on August 10.