Not the time for ego or anger: Margaret Alva's message to TMC

New Delhi, July 22: Opposition candidate Margaret Alva has criticised the Trinamool Congress's decision to abstain from voting in the election. Alva, in a message, reminded West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party that the Vice Presidential election "isn't the time for whataboutery, ego or anger".

"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," Alva tweeted.

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 & unity. I believe, @MamataOfficial , who is the epitome of courage, will stand with the opposition.

— Margaret Alva (@alva_margaret) July 22, 2022

Mamata Banerjee-led-Trinamool Congress on Thursday announced that it will abstain from voting in the Vice President election, in which the ruling BJP's candidate is Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Governor of Bengal.

The TMC is reportedly unhappy with the joint opposition's decision to announce Margaret Alva's name without consulting the party.

Notably, Yashwant Sinha did not campaign in West Bengal for his Presidential bid as the Trinamool Congress, the party to which he belonged to and that sponsored his candidature, found itself in a spot after the BJP-led NDA named Draupadi Murmu, a tribal leader, as its candidate.

On Murmu's candidature, Mamata Banerjee had said that the situation would have been completely different if she had known about the NDA's nominee in advance.

Alva, 80, is pitted against NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned as West Bengal governor after being nominated on Saturday.

The vice presidential poll will be held on August 6 to elect the successor to M Venkaiah Naidu, whose term ends on August 10.