Jaswant Singh frontrunner to be NDA's vice-president candidate: Sources

New Delhi:?A day before the NDA meets to finalise the name of its vice presidential candidate, sources have told NDTV that former union minister Jaswant Singh's name has emerged as the frontrunner to challenge UPA candidate Hamid Ansari in the August 7 polls.

According to sources, Mr Singh's name is likely to be announced tomorrow after the NDA meeting. However, sources also say, a section of the NDA is keen on putting up its convenor and Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav as the vice presidential candidate, a move that would ensure the party's support. JDU leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had expressed his willingness to support UPA's candidate Mr Ansari. But he said, a final decision will be taken after the party leader Sharad Yadav attends the NDA meeting on Monday.

Earlier, BJP allies JD(U) and Shiv Sena had decided not to support PA Sangma as the presidential candidate despite NDA's announcement.

The BJP met on Saturday evening and decided to put up a challenger against Mr Ansari. According to sources, the BJP may field its own candidate if the NDA allies fail to reach a consensus on any name. Among its allies in NDA, Shiv Sena has already offered their support to any candidate finalised by the alliance.

However, sources also say that the BJP may throw its weight behind Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who will decide her party's stand on vice presidential polls in the next two to three days. In the UPA meeting on Saturday, Trinamool representative Mukul Roy suggested names of former West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and former Lok Sabha MP Krishna Bose, who is also the niece of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, as options for the vice presidential race. If Trinamool decides to field its own candidate, the BJP may offer support to increase its chances to put up a decent fight against the UPA candidate.

Before the UPA meeting last evening, the Prime Minister had phoned Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and senior BJP leader LK Advani to solicit their support for Mr Ansari. Sources say the BJP has declined because of how Mr Ansari handled the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha in December. (Read: UPA announces Hamid Ansari as vice presidential candidate)

Despite the BJP's decision to field a candidate, the vice presidential election is not likely to be a close one. UPA candidate Mr Ansari needs only 396 votes to win the contest. Even without Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, the UPA easily has 444 MPs voting for him, which is more than enough to ensure a second term for Mr Ansari.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ndtv/Lsgd/~3/U5i1BIacvD0/story01.htm

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