Opposition VP candidate Margaret Alva files nomination

Veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva filed her nomination papers as the vice presidential candidate on Tuesday, backed by a group of about 17 opposition parties. Alva, 80, said her fight with the backing of many opposition parties is to uphold the pillars of democracy, to strengthen institutions and for a better India.

She is pitted against BJP-led NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar, who has clear lead in the electoral college comprising the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members. The election and counting of votes are scheduled for August 6.

"We fight for what is important to us: to uphold the pillars of democracy, to strengthen our institutions and for an India that is 'Saare Jahan Se Accha' (better than the entire world), that belongs to each and every one of us," Alva said in a statement to the media.


Her contest will again be a test of the capacity of opposition parties to stand united, something that many of them failed in during the presidential contest.

Alva termed the coming together of the opposition to her candidature as "a metaphor of the reality that is India", of people from various corners of the country who speak different languages and follow different religions and customs and make unity in diversity their strength.