Margaret alva sonia gandhi

PTI New Delhi, July 17 Joint opposition candidate for the August 6 Vice Presidential election Margaret Alva, a Congress veteran, is not new to comebacks. Barring a brief lull in 2008 triggered by her standoff with Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the issue of family entitlement in ticket distribution, the suave and soft-spoken Alva’s career has largely been a dream run. Alva, 80, has a political career spanning over four decades during which she occupied several positions including a five-time Congress MP, a union minister and then governor. Her selection as the VP candidate comes ahead the 2023 Karnataka elections and signals the Opposition’s urge to field a candidate described by AICC general secretary communication Jairam Ramesh as “representative of a diverse country”. Alva had publicly alleged the “sale of Congress tickets in Karnataka” in 2008 when her son Nivedith’s ticket claim was shot down by the then party in charge of the state. Alva had then openly questioned the denial of ticket to her son while wards of leaders in some other states had been accommodated. She was dropped at the time as AICC general secretary and also from the party’s election committee but made a comeback later and retired as governor of Rajasthan in 2014. While she was always close to Sonia, her son Nikhil Alva also served in Rahul Gandhi’s closest team of advisors when the latter was Congress President until his resignation after the party’s May 2019 embarrassing loss. She was elected t...

On July 17, around 17 Opposition parties announced that Congress leader Margaret Alva would be their common candidate for the election to the post of vice-president scheduled to be held on August 6. The term of the current vicepresident, Venkaiah Naidu, comes to an end on August 10. Alva, a four-time governor and former Union minister, is pitted against West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the NDA candidate for the vice-presidential election. And like Dhankhar, she has also been a lawyer. Personal Life Alva was born on April 14, 1942, in a Roman Catholic family in Mangalore. Her father was a civil servant. She completed her graduation from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru. Later, she obtained a law degree from the Government Law College, Bengaluru. In 1964, she married Niranjan Thomas Alva, a lawyer-turned-businessman and became the daughter-in-law of Violet Alva and Joachim Alva, both former members of Parliament. In fact, they were the first couple to be in Parliament. Joachim Alva represented Kanara constituency in the Lok Sabha as a Congress MP for three terms (15 years, 1952 to 1967). Niranjan Alva died in 2018 due to illness. They have three sons—Niret, Nikhil and Nivedith—and a daughter—Manira. Niret is a successful TV producer while Nikhil and Nivedith dabbled in politics, joining the Congress. Manira, who was also into TV production, now stays in the US. Niret is married to celebrity author Anuja Chauhan. Political Career Alva joined politics under the guidance o...

'Courage & Commitment' is not about Sonia Gandhi or Congress, but my life: Margaret Alva on her memoir Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva is angry. She's had enough of the media projecting her just-launched biography, Courage & Commitment, as a criticism of Sonia Gandhi. "This book is not about Sonia Gandhi or the Congress; it is about my life. And a very small part of it has been with Sonia," she tells Gargi Gupta. Excerpts: You may say that you haven't criticised Sonia Gandhi but that resignation letter you wrote in 2008, which has been released for the first time, is scathing. I have not criticised Sonia ji. Why would I fight with Sonia ji? I became Congress general secretary because of her. My relationship with Sonia has been very close and it hasn't changed.. I went and gave her the first copy of my book with a message written inside. I said 'Madam, you will find it interesting.' What I have written are recorded facts which are already in the public domain, in Parliament records and in the knowledge of people around. 'Only one thing', I told her, 'I have done without your permission – release my resignation letter for the first time.' I resigned in 2008 and till today, it has been in my locker. I felt I had to say why I went out; I wanted to set the record straight. You can't blame her for everything or Rahul (Gandhi), for that matter. Somebody loses an election somewhere and you blame them –what were the local leaders doing? They are as responsible for running a st...

Alva had publicly alleged the "sale of Congress tickets in Karnataka" in 2008 when her son Nivedith's ticket claim was shot down by the then party in charge of the state. Alva had then openly questioned the denial of ticket to her son while wards of leaders in some other states had been accommodated.

Adipurush Review: Netizens Give Their Verdict On Twitter The choice of Alva, herself a veteran Congress leader, has been a known critic of the Gandhis. Her memoir — 'Courage and Commitment' — published in July 2016, has created a flutter of sorts. She had taken a few direct and indirect potshots at the Congress leadership. Sinha, coming from anti-Congress parties such as the Janata Dal and the BJP, has a long and substantive track record of opposing the Gandhis — Indira, Rajiv, Sonia, and Rahul. Alva also wrote about Congress's connections to the AgustaWestland scam accused Christian Michel's father Wolfgang Michel. A section of the Congress laments the Gandhis' inoperativeness for another reason. According to them, the Congress and Gandhis could have shown themselves as democracy's David, fielding critics and dissenters for the post of vice-president and president. The Congress also missed a point in the Narendra Modi-led NDA picking loyalists, while the Opposition opted for vocal detractors. Incidentally, Alva's mother-in-law, Violet, a freedom fighter and Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson in 1969, was a candidate for vice-presidential polls when President Zakir Hussain had died and incumbent Vice-President VV Giri was elevated, necessitating vice-presidential election. Indira had reportedly overruled Violet's claim, fielding GS Pathak, a former union minister and governor. Barely four months later, Violet resigned as deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha in November 1969, and ...

A five-term member of Parliament, former Union Minister and former Governor, Margaret Alva’s accomplishments made her A veteran of political comebacks, Ms. Alva of the Congress is precisely known for her ability to stand up and speak her mind, even if it means displeasing one of her own. In 2008, she kicked up a political storm when she publicly accused her party’s Karnataka unit of “selling tickets” to the highest bidder after her son, Nivedith, was denied a seat to contest the Assembly elections. The outburst cost her politically as she was not only denied a ministerial position in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) but also her organisational responsibilities were taken away. A no-nonsense leader Once considered close to party chief Sonia Gandhi and termed a no-nonsense leader, Ms. Alva was All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of crucial States of Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana. But following the 2008 controversy, she was dropped as AICC general secretary and also from the party’s election committee. However, later she made a comeback and was made Governor of Uttarakhand, Goa, and Gujarat before she retired as Governor of Rajasthan in 2014. In her autobiography, Courage and Commitment, Ms. Alva had put the blame on senior leader A.K. Antony for her removal from organisational positions and held that it was because she had once recommended his [Mr. Antony] removal as the Kerala Chief Minister earlier. While she was always close...

IMAGE: Congress leader Margaret Alva. Photograph: Kamal Singh/PTI Photo Barring a brief lull in 2008 triggered by her standoff with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue of family entitlement in ticket distribution, the suave and soft-spoken Alva's career has largely been a dream run. Alva, 80, has a political career spanning over four decades during which she occupied several positions including a five-time Congress MP, a union minister and then governor. Alva had publicly alleged the 'sale of Congress tickets in Karnataka' in 2008 when her son Nivedith's ticket claim was shot down by the then party in charge of the state. Alva had then openly questioned the denial of ticket to her son while wards of leaders in some other states had been accommodated. She was dropped at the time as AICC general secretary and also from the party's election committee but made a comeback later and retired as governor of Rajasthan in 2014. While she was always close to Sonia, her son Nikhil Alva also served in Rahul Gandhi's closest team of advisors when the latter was Congress president until his resignation after the party's May 2019 embarrassing loss. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in 1974 at the age of 32 years and remained in the upper house for four terms until 1998. She won her first Lok Sabha election from Karnataka and served as a member of the 13th Lok Sabha. Alva was made minister of state for parliamentary affairs by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi...

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday seized upon the serious allegations levelled by the Opposition's vice-presidential candidate Margaret Alva against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey highlighted the charges - the distrust between Sonia Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao which manifested itself in the gun carriage carrying the former PM's body not being allowed in the AICC headquarters, Sanjay Gandhi's links with the father of alleged AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel and their involvement in an illegal arms deal involving the sale of old tanks to South Africa when the two countries did not have ties and others - Alva had made in a 2016 TV interview. "The Opposition's candidate for Vice-President, Margaret Alva levelled a range of charges from corruption to conspiracy against Congress party and its president Sonia Gandhi. Has the Opposition by supporting her endorse her allegations to declare Congress corrupt?" the LS member from Godda asked in a tweet. The VP candidate had said that the Narasimha Rao government's decision to challenge a Delhi high court order quashing the Bofors case embittered their ties. Alva also said that Sonia did not trust Rao and suspected him of conspiring to send her to jail. On the other hand, the former Prime Minister was uncomfortable with Sonia keeping herself aloof. Alva, who was promoting her memoir 'Courage and Commitment', also talked about Sanjay Gandhi's alleged links with Wolfgang Michel, father of the alleged AgustaWesland middleman. Alva also quote...

On July 17, around 17 Opposition parties announced that Congress leader Margaret Alva would be their common candidate for the election to the post of vice-president scheduled to be held on August 6. The term of the current vicepresident, Venkaiah Naidu, comes to an end on August 10. Alva, a four-time governor and former Union minister, is pitted against West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the NDA candidate for the vice-presidential election. And like Dhankhar, she has also been a lawyer. Personal Life Alva was born on April 14, 1942, in a Roman Catholic family in Mangalore. Her father was a civil servant. She completed her graduation from Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru. Later, she obtained a law degree from the Government Law College, Bengaluru. In 1964, she married Niranjan Thomas Alva, a lawyer-turned-businessman and became the daughter-in-law of Violet Alva and Joachim Alva, both former members of Parliament. In fact, they were the first couple to be in Parliament. Joachim Alva represented Kanara constituency in the Lok Sabha as a Congress MP for three terms (15 years, 1952 to 1967). Niranjan Alva died in 2018 due to illness. They have three sons—Niret, Nikhil and Nivedith—and a daughter—Manira. Niret is a successful TV producer while Nikhil and Nivedith dabbled in politics, joining the Congress. Manira, who was also into TV production, now stays in the US. Niret is married to celebrity author Anuja Chauhan. Political Career Alva joined politics under the guidance o...

'Courage & Commitment' is not about Sonia Gandhi or Congress, but my life: Margaret Alva on her memoir Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva is angry. She's had enough of the media projecting her just-launched biography, Courage & Commitment, as a criticism of Sonia Gandhi. "This book is not about Sonia Gandhi or the Congress; it is about my life. And a very small part of it has been with Sonia," she tells Gargi Gupta. Excerpts: You may say that you haven't criticised Sonia Gandhi but that resignation letter you wrote in 2008, which has been released for the first time, is scathing. I have not criticised Sonia ji. Why would I fight with Sonia ji? I became Congress general secretary because of her. My relationship with Sonia has been very close and it hasn't changed.. I went and gave her the first copy of my book with a message written inside. I said 'Madam, you will find it interesting.' What I have written are recorded facts which are already in the public domain, in Parliament records and in the knowledge of people around. 'Only one thing', I told her, 'I have done without your permission – release my resignation letter for the first time.' I resigned in 2008 and till today, it has been in my locker. I felt I had to say why I went out; I wanted to set the record straight. You can't blame her for everything or Rahul (Gandhi), for that matter. Somebody loses an election somewhere and you blame them –what were the local leaders doing? They are as responsible for running a st...