To send a clear message to all political parties of no divide within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Opposition alliance today “unanimously” announced the name of former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh as its candidate for the Vice-Presidential election early next month.
However, Singh was clearly not NDA’s first choice. Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had spoken to Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday, to convince to contest the election. But, Yadav did not agree.
“When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh informed us that Hamid Ansari will be their Vice-Presidential candidate, I had told him we were disinclined to support Ansari because he had abruptly adjourned the House during the debate on the Lok Pal in the Rajya Sabha. NDA leaders wanted Sharad Yadav to contest, but he is not ready. So, all our parties have zeroed in on the name of Jaswant Singh,” said senior BJP leader L K Advani.
Soon after the NDA meeting started at Advani’s residence, leaders again tried to convince Yadav but he reiterated that he was not interested to contest. The BJP leadership also wanted Najma Heptulla, Member of Parliament, to contest against Ansari. Heptulla, in her earlier meeting with Yadav and other BJP leaders, including Advani, expressed her disinterest in contesting.
Members of UPA ally, Trinamool Congress, also met Yadav to convince him to contest for the election, but the JD(U) chief did not agree.
After the names of Yadav and Heptulla were discussed at the NDA meeting, BJP leaders suggested the name of Jaswant Singh, since he too was keen to contest and had also met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for support. All the NDA allies agreed on the name of Singh and were ready to support him.
Since JD(U) is supporting Pranab Mukherjee for the Presidential election, BJP leaders were not sure if the alliance partner would stay with them in the Vice-Presidential election because JD(U) had also shown keenness to support Ansari.
However, Yadav took upon himself to get the support of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to convince him to back Jaswant Singh. “Sharad Yadav spoke to Nitish Kumar and told him the party should support Jaswant Singh, since a political message had to be sent that there was no division within the NDA against opposition to the Congress-led UPA’s claims,” said an NDA leader.
Leaders of the BJP agreed to call for an NDA meeting after Yadav told them the party would support the candidate.
BJP leaders are now trying to rope in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to support Singh.
“We have not started talking to other political parties but we will soon do it. We will talk to all those parties who are not committed to supporting the UPA candidate,” Advani added..
