There were speculations for many days before the candidates for President was finalised. Once that was done, the next natural step was the announcement of Vice-President candidate. The first move to announce the presidential candidate was taken by the ruling party. The opposition fielded their candidate after a couple of days. But this time round the opposition announced their candidate first. And it is Gopalakrishna Gandhi the grandson of two illustrious grandparents – Gandhiji, his father’s father and Rajagopalachari his mother’s father. Initially his name came up for the post of President but later the opposition agreed upon Meira Kumar. All the 18 opposition parties unanimously agreed to field Gopalakrishna Gandhi as the candidate. The election for the Vice President will be conducted on August 5th and the results will be announced the same evening.
When Narendra Modi and the BJP won a resounding victory in 2014, he wrote a letter which did not flatter Modi. So the opposition knew for certain that they had a good candidate in Gopalakrishna Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi is a graduate of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, a prestigious institution which has seen many greats in many fields. Even as a student he was widely well-liked as an independent thinker. He served as the Governor of West Bengal from 2004 to 2009. As a governor he travelled inot the rural West Bengal incognit.Before than from 2000 to 2002 he served in the embassy in Norway and Srilanka in very high posts. How is he as a person? Mr. Gandhi is a very gentle man but he did not shy away from expressing his views even if they were tough and sharp. He is married to Tara and has two daughters. He is fond of music both Carnatic and Hindusthani. He is known for his literary works. He has translated books and written books as well. He was born on April 22nd 1946 and it is now, at the age of 71 that he has a chance to become the Vice President of India.
