The Hindu : Shekhawat is NDA candidate for Vice-President

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 18, 2002

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Shekhawat is NDA candidate for Vice-President

By K.V. Prasad

NEW DELHI JULY 17. The former Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior BJP leader, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is the National Democratic Alliance candidate for the August 12 Vice-Presidential election. The Opposition parties appear determined to oppose him.

Mr. Shekhawat's candidature was formally announced by the NDA convenor, George Fernandes, here this evening at a press conference. He said the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was authorised by the NDA to select its candidate, had decided on Mr. Shekhawat. He would file his nomination papers at 12.30 p.m. tomorrow. Apart from the NDA constituents, Mr. Shekhawat's candidature is being backed by the Telugu Desam Party, the All-India Anna DMK and the Bahujan Samaj Party. After having secured the NDA authorisation last Sunday, Mr. Vajpayee sounded the TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, and the BSP leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, while the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, had a telephonic talk with the AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa. Mr. Fernandes said the Prime Minister also spoke to the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, seeking the party's support for Mr. Shekhawat. The Congress chief expressed regret and said the Opposition would contest the election.

The NDA's efforts to rope in the Samajwadi Party has not succeeded so far. The Nationalist Congress Party has decided to oppose any candidate with an RSS background and appealed to all Opposition parties to unite and fight against it. This was decided at a meeting of the NCP central office- bearers at the residence of the party president, Sharad Pawar, party general secretary, Tariq Anwar, said in a statement.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pramod Mahajan, who was present at Mr. Fernandes's press meet, said the NDA was confident that its candidate would emerge victorious by over 100 votes. With the TDP, the BSP and the AIADMK extending support to Mr. Shekhawat, its nominee already had 85 extra votes. The members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha constitute the electoral college for the Vice-President's post.

Meanwhile, the Left parties and the Congress leaders are in consultations on finding a joint candidate to take on Mr. Shekhawat. The Congress leaders went into a huddle with Ms. Gandhi on her return from Jammu this evening.It appears that the choice has narrowed down to a Dalit candidate and perhaps Sushil Kumar Shinde has emerged as the front-runner.

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