On Wednesday, Jagdeep Dhankhar, the vice presidential candidate for the NDA, received the endorsement of Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief Mayawati.
In order to defeat Jagdeep Dhankhar, the opposition has put former Union minister Margaret Alva up as their vice presidential candidate.
Mayawati formerly supported Droupadi Murmu for president, claiming that the opposition overlooked her party when selecting Yashwant Sinha as its candidate. She had emphasised that her choice to back Murmu was politically unmotivated and that she was not siding with either the BJP or the NDA.
“In such a situation, keeping in mind the wider public interest and its movement in the election being held for the post of Vice President, it has decided to extend its support to Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar and which I am also formally announcing today,” Mayawati tweeted.
The opposition groups who backed Murmu’s candidacy included Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction), although they also backed Margaret Alva for vice president. Unexpectedly, the Trinamool Congress has opted not to participate in the voting for vice president.
