New Delhi, July 16: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh was today chosen by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as its unanimous candidate for the August 7 Vice-Presidential election against UPA nominee Hamid Ansari.
The opposition alliance said it had reservations over the re-nomination of Mr Ansari, particularly the manner in which he conducted the Rajya Sabha when the Lokpal Bill was discussed and the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed.
“We have decided not to give them (UPA) a walkover... We have unanimously decided that Jaswant Singh will be the NDA candidate in the Vice-Presidential poll,” L K Advani, NDA Working President, announced after an NDA meeting.
Mr Advani said JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav had also raised concerns over Mr Ansari’s conduct in the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha where marshals were used to oust those opposed to the legislation.
He said the same concerns were shared with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he had called him on Saturday to seek support for Mr Ansari’s candidature.
Mr Advani said Mr Yadav, also the NDA convenor, was initially approached to contest the Vice Presidential election, but he declined citing his interest in active politics.
The BJP leader indicated that the NDA would reach out to all such parties which have not committed their support to the UPA nominee.
Reacting to his nomination, 74-year-old Jaswant Singh said, “It is a matter of great respect that the NDA has unanimously chosen me as their candidate for the post of Vice President. It is a big responsibility and also a challenge”.
Earlier:
Jaswant or Sharad for VP race? NDA to decide today
New Delhi, July 16: Even while toying with the idea of making senior leader Jaswant Singh contest for the post of vice-president, BJP is not likely to take any decision until it has full knowledge of the likely stand of regional satraps Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalitha and Naveen Patnaik. Sources said the NDA meeting on Monday morning will take a call on whether or not to formally announce the candidature of Singh who seems to be keen to contest.
While BJP is said to have even contemplated fielding NDA convener and JD(U) leaderSharad Yadav, he refused to talk about it saying the picture would become clear only after the meeting on Monday. Yadav, however, did say that the vice-presidential polls were different from the elections for president in which JD(U) has gone its own way by supporting Pranab Mukherjee.
"The issue of vice-presidential election and Pranab Mukherjee are separate. I have never supported Congress's political line since I joined politics. We have supported Mukherjee for his political experience only," Yadav told reporters. This has been interpreted by some as an indication of support for BJP in case it decides to contest but Yadav did not confirm this saying that all options were still open.
Later in the evening, he told TOI that it would be wrong to say BJP had already made up its mind to contest and that the final decision would be taken only after the meeting. Shiv Sena has already announced support for the NDA candidate.
Sources said that with Banerjee's choice Gopal Gandhi declining to contest, Jaswant may have to take the field if Jayalalitha and Patnaik fail to come up with a candidate to put up a token fight.
PM Manmohan Singh had called Yadav for JD(U) support but he remained non-committal. UPA candidate Hamid Ansari can sail through even without support from Banerjee, one of the reasons why Yadav doesn't seem keen to contest. While BJP's Najma Heptullah too is said to be keen to contest, sources said the outcome would hinge on the stand taken by smaller parties like Patnaik's BJD and Jayalalitha's AIADMK. "The party may decide to support their candidate to ensure a decent contest," said a leader.
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