Rivals in VP poll, Dhankhar and Alva have quite a few things in common

The two rivals, Jagdeep Dhankhar and Margaret Alva, for the chair of vice president also have several things in common: both have been governor, union minister and have a Congress background to list a few.

Both also have a law degree, have been one-time Lok Sabha member and share a Rajasthan connection. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance candidate Dhankhar (71) is a native of the state, the Opposition's pick Alva (80) has been its governor.

Dhankhar, who was in the Janata Dal and the Congress before joining the BJP, distinguished himself as a lawyer in the Rajasthan High Court and then in the Supreme Court, while Alva has had a more vast legislative experience.

She has been a four-term Rajya Sabha MP and was governor of Uttarakhand and Rajasthan when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre. She was also a minister in the governments headed by Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao.

Dhankhar, also a former MLA, was a minister in the short-lived Chandra Shekhar government and was appointed West Bengal governor in July 2019 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power again.

A day after the BJP named him as the ruling alliance's candidate, opposition parties on Sunday decided to field Alva as their joint candidate for the election scheduled for August 6.

With the BJP enjoying a majority on its own in the electoral college for the vice presidential poll, Dhankhar is all but certain to beat his more experienced rival to the important constitutional post.