TMC to abstain from vice presidential election, says senior leader Abhishek Banerjee

Trinamool Congress will be abstaining from the upcoming vice presidential election as the party does not agree with the way the Opposition candidate has been decided--without keeping the party in the loops, Abhishek Banerjee, senior leader of the party, noted on Thursday.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has been nominated as the candidate by NDA for the presidential election. The Opposition parties decided to field former Rajasthan governor Margaret Alva as their joint candidate for the poll on Sunday.

"There is no question of supporting the NDA candidate, especially Jagdeep Dhankhar. But after today's meeting with party lawmakers, it has been decided that we will abstain from the vice presidential election," Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress national general secretary said.


"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 included.