New Delhi: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Sunday announced Congress veteran Margaret Alva as the Opposition’s Vice-President candidate against NDA’s Jagdeep Dhankhar. A five-term MP, former Union minister and Governor, Alva was once considered close to the Congress first family – right from Indira Gandhi. However, her outspokenness also got her into trouble with the party leadership on several occasions.
Alva retired as the Governor of Rajasthan in 2014 but her autobiography was published two years later and subsequent ‘explosive’ interviews revealed her bittersweet relationship with Congress. From alleging a Gandhi family connect to the VVIP chopper scam accused Christian Michel’s father to insult former PM Narasimha Rao’s body to ‘sale’ of tickets during the 2008 Karnataka assembly elections, Alva opened up old wounds, most of which have been documented in ‘Courage and Commitment’.
A Gandhi-Michel link?
In her autobiography, Alva talks about the Congress’s connections with Christian Michel’s father Wolfgang Michel. The 1980s case, known as the tank scam, was about Sanjay Gandhi and his confidante CPN Singh allegedly trying to sell second-hand Indian army tanks to South Africa. Singh was removed due to the allegations, and Alva said Singh targeted her as she was about to blow the lid off his connections with Michel.
2008 Karnataka elections
Alva created a major uproar when she publicly accused the Karnataka Congress unit of “selling tickets” to the highest bidder after her son Nivedith was denied a seat in the 2008 assembly elections.
Alva then was the AICC general secretary in charge of the crucial states of Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra, but was removed after the controversy. She was also dropped from the Congress’s election committee and denied a Union cabinet ministry. Later though, she patched up with the party leadership and was made Governor of Uttarakhand, Goa, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
‘Insult’ to PVR
In an interview in July 2016, Alva expressed displeasure at the way PVR was insulted after his death. PVR’s body was not allowed to enter the AICC headquarters, and instead, parked on the pavement outside the gates.
“Whatever the differences, he had been the Prime Minister, Congress president, chief minister and the party’s general secretary. He had done a wonderful job, except for the Babri Masjid and the mess up with it. When a man is dead, you don’t treat him that way,” Alva said during the interview and revealed that there is no picture of PVR in the AICC headquarters.
On Emergency
In another interview, Alva had said, “…there was a group of politicians, including Siddharth Shankar Ray and Rajni Patel, who was actively advising her (Indira Gandhi) to impose Emergency. The JP (Jayaprakash Narayan) movement was at its peak. There were reports that calls were being given to Army personnel to revolt, which were being seen by the Congress as hints of an impending insurgency.”
In the same interview, Alva also shared her differences with Sanjay Gandhi and how some Congress leaders dragged her name into an alleged ‘Catholic conspiracy’ to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi and make Sonia the PM.