CPI may root for rural minister for vice-president

Although the Congress and the Left parties have been saying that there will be no movement on the choice of a vice-presidential candidate till July 19, the day the new president is elected, a new name has entered the arena.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is being spoken of approvingly by the CPI.

Top leaders of the CPI are learnt to have mooted the idea of moving Singh from the Cabinet and the Lok Sabha to the Rajya Sabha. Singh himself is not averse to the move.

After all, more than half the life of this Parliament is over and re-election to the Lok Sabha from Bihar is an option fraught with uncertainty. Moving to the Rajya Sabha will mean assured parliamentary tenure of another five years.

The Congress, especially General Secretary Digvijay Singh and the political advisor to Sonia Gandhi, Ahmad Patel, appear to have no significant objection. However, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, whose assent is crucial, is keeping his cards close to the chest

Meanwhile, with the presidential election just two days away, the NDA remained a divided house with the Shiv Sena rejecting the BJP's call to reconsider its decision not to support Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

The Trinamool Congress, which has not endorsed Shekhawat's nomination, added to the BJP's woes by skipping a key NDA meeting on the Thursday's election. In a related development, the Election Commission dismissed the BJP's complaint against the Third Front's decision not to vote in the election.