"I’m grateful to all the leaders of the opposition who stood with me in solidarity when I filed my nomination as a candidate for the post of VP. I will be reaching out personally to every opposition party, no matter how big or small, to forge a common front for this election," Margaret Alva said in a Twitter post soon after she filed her nomination papers on Tuesday.

Eighty-year-old Alva is pitted against National Democratic Alliance candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar, who resigned as governor, West Bengal. Following his resignation, Manipur Governor La Ganesan is now the governor of West Bengal as well.

Former governor of Goa, Congress party leader Margaret Alva was also governor of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttarakhand. She was nominated unanimously on Sunday.

"It is a privilege and an honour to be nominated as the candidate of the joint opposition for the post of Vice President of India. I accept this nomination with great humility and thank the leaders of the opposition for the faith they’ve put in me," she said on Sunday.  

The vice-presidential election is scheduled on August 6, as current vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu's term ends on August 10.