Margaret Alva, the joint opposition candidate for Vice President elections on Friday criticised the Trinamool Congress a day after the party announced to abstain from the elections to be held in August.
In a tweet, Alva wrote, "The TMC's decision to abstain from voting in the VP election is disappointing. This isn't the time for 'whataboutery', ego or anger. This is the time for courage, leadership and unity. I believe, Mamata Banerjee, who is the epitome of courage, will stand with the opposition."
NDA has nominated former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the election scheduled to be held on August 6.
Banerjee had met with Dhankhar and BJP's northeast strategist and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently.
The TMC on Thursday announcing its decision said it does not agree with the way the Opposition candidate was decided without keeping the party in the loop. "There is no question of supporting the NDA candidate, especially Jagdeep Dhankhar. In today's meeting, TMC lawmakers unanimously decided not to take part in the vice presidential election," Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said.
Opposition parties had on July 17 decided to field former Rajasthan governor Margaret Alva as their joint candidate for the poll.
Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleged that the Opposition candidate was decided without proper consultation and deliberation with the party, which has 35 MPs in both the Houses.
TMC MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha held a meeting at Mamata Banerjee's residence to decide on the party's stand for the vice presidential poll.
"We disagree with the process of announcing the Opposition candidate without keeping TMC in the loop. We were neither consulted nor was anything discussed with us. So we can't support the Opposition nominee," he said.
Banerjee said that on one hand, NDA's candidate is Dhankhar, who was "completely biased" during his tenure as the state's governor for the last three years, and on the other, Alva was chosen without any deliberation with TMC.
"As per electoral arithmetic, TMC's decision to abstain will not help the NDA candidate. It is our right to take a decision," he said.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
