Stumped twice, no one is guessing VP nominee

NEW DELHI: After the Presidential polls on July 17, it will be the time to elect India’s next Vice-President by August. But this time, no one seems to be taking any chances in guessing the name, having been stumped twice by the BJP — first when Yogi Adityanath was announced as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and recently when Ram Nath Kovind was made the NDA’s presidential nominee.

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 24

After the Presidential polls on July 17, it will be the time to elect India’s next Vice-President by August.

But this time, no one seems to be taking any chances in guessing the name, having been stumped twice by the BJP — first when Yogi Adityanath was announced as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and recently when Ram Nath Kovind was made the NDA’s presidential nominee.

Senior party leaders, who were as much surprised as mediapersons and others when BJP chief Amit Shah announced the name of Kovind this Monday, say making guesses in the current party regime would be a futile exercise.

As it happened in the case of the presidential nominee, when the decision was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah in accordance with the RSS, the BJP’s ideological fountainhead, the same procedure and level of secrecy will be maintained before the NDA’s choice for the Vice-President is made public. Any announcement, they say, can be expected after the presidential poll is over and done with.

Having served two terms, Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will demit office around August 19. The entire process has to be completed by then.

All that the BJP leaders indicate while names of senior leaders Najma Heptullah, ESL Narasimhan and M Venkaiah Naidu do the rounds is that whosoever the candidate is, he or she would be from the party and someone lower in hierarchy than Kovind.

Shah tells BJP CMs to seek support for Kovind

Springing a surprise with the decision to nominate low-profile Ram Nath Kovind as the NDA’s presidential candidate, the BJP leadership is aiming to take the wind completely out of the Opposition’s campaign for Meira Kumar. Party sources indicate that BJP chief Amit Shah is now looking beyond the “pratyaksh”(direct) non-BJP, non-Congress supporters in the electoral college or those who have already committed to supporting the NDA candidate. Apparently, Shah on Friday told some of the BJP’s high-profile Chief Ministers like Vasundhra Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Yogi Adityanath to look for support among those who may have otherwise committed to Kumar — the candidate of 17 Opposition parties, including the Congress and Left.