Opposition picks Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi as Vice-Presidential candidate

Opposition parties have fielded former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as its Vice-Presidential candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi is Mahatma Gandhi's Grandson and a retired IAS officer He was also chosen as the opposition’s candidate for the President of India

Congress and seventeen other opposition parties picked former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as its Vice-Presidential candidate. Gopalkrishna Gandhi

It is reported that Gopalkrishna Gandhi's name was the only one discussed when the opposition parties met in the Parliament House on Tuesday, July 11, 2017.

"He has agreed to be the opposition's candidate for Vice President," said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who chaired the meeting.

Sonia Gandhi also said that eighteen parties decided to field Gopalkrishna Gandhi as their vice presidential candidate. 

He was also chosen as the opposition’s candidate for the President of India. But the opposition could not garner enough support for him and settled with former Speaker Meira Kumar.

The meeting was also attended by JD(U). JD(U) supported Ram Nath Kovind, BJP’s presidential candidate,  and received severe backlash from allies Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav. JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar said that it was the opposition’s delay in selecting a candidate that prompted him to side with the BJP.

Nitish Kumar had, however, made it clear that Gopal Gandhi was a welcome choice when opposition leaders met at the 94th birthday celebration for M Karunanidhi in Chennai last month.

In fact, Nitish Kumar avoided the meeting and sent Sharad Yadav to the meeting. Today's meeting included representatives of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. Rahul Gandhi, whose mother is the Congress chief, was also present along with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.