Congress leadership starts internal deliberations on vice-presidential election

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal held a closed-door meeting on Tuesday (August 12, 2025), where they are said to have deliberated on the Opposition’s choice for a candidate to contest the vice-presidential election.

However, there was no official word on what transpired in the meeting. Another round of meetings is likely in the next few days to finalise a name that will find a broad consensus among the INDIA bloc’s constituents.

Opportunity for unity

At a dinner hosted by Mr. Gandhi on August 7, INDIA bloc leaders agreed in principle to field a candidate for the Vice Presidential poll even though the Opposition does not have the requisite number of MPs to win the election.

The Opposition plans to force a contest by fielding a candidate. 

The joint protest against the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar has become a rallying point for the INDIA bloc parties, and the vice-presidential election is being seen as another occasion to put Opposition unity on display.