Vice President poll begins: Ansari looks set for second term

New Delhi: UPA nominee Hamid Ansari appears set for a second term as Vice President, as all indications are that he will emerge as clear winner against the NDA’s Jaswant Singh in a direct contest for the post on Tuesday. Ansari has the backing of the UPA and its allies, as well as a number of other parties including the Left. He is reportedly confident of winning at least 500 votes. A total of 788 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs are eligible to vote in the poll to elect the 14th Vice President. Unlike the Presidential poll held last month, which saw a split in the NDA with the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena breaking ranks to vote for UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee, Jaswant Singh has the backing of a united NDA for his Vice Presidential bid. The BJP has 114 members in the Lok Sabha and 49 in Rajya Sabha; the JD(U) 20 and nine; the Shiv Sena 11 and four; and the Shiromani Akali Dal four and three respectively. [caption id=“attachment_408196” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ansari looks set to win today: Reuters[/caption] While the AIADMK, which has 14 MPs in Parliament, yesterday announced its support to Singh’s candidature, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD with 18 members in Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha has decided to abstain from voting. Ahead of the poll, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi yesterday hosted a lunch for UPA constituents and the parties supporting it from outside, which projected a complete picture of unity. The Trinamool Congress MPs attended Gandhi’s lunch and the party is expected to go public with its support for Ansari ahead of the polls today. Not only all UPA constituents but also the chiefs of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, Mualyam Singh Yadav and Mayawati, attended the lunch. The two leaders, arch rivals in Uttar Pradesh politics, had not attended any such programme together for several years. At the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, party general secretary Digvijaya Singh held interactions with several MPs, especially those from Uttar Pradesh, to ensure voting is carried out properly during the Vice Presidential poll and no vote goes to waste. The polling will take place from 10 am to 5 pm. A total of 42 papers were filed by 31 candidates during the 14-day nomination process, of which four sets of papers submitted by Ansari and three sets submitted by Singh were accepted. The nomination papers of 29 others were rejected on various grounds. Though the numbers are stacked highly against Singh, the BJP is making all efforts to put up a respectable fight. PTI