The opposition declared former union minister and veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva as its candidate for the vice-presidential election.

The decision was announced by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar after an all-party meet by the opposition parties held in New Delhi.

Sharad Pawar said, "We are trying to contact Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Last time they supported our joint president candidate.”

"17 parties are on board for this unanimous decision. Our collective thinking is Alva will file the VP nomination on Tuesday," he said.

On Saturday, the BJP had announced West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as the NDA’s vice-presidential candidate.

The elections for the next Vice-President of India will be held on August 6 and the counting will take place on the same day. The last date to file a nomination is July 19.