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.
