Former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Najma Heptullah, who filed her nomination for the post of Vice President of India on behalf of the National Democratic Alliance on Monday, admitted that there was no chance of her winning the elections and that she had filed nomination only for the sake of registering the presence of NDA.
Heptullah was nominated as NDA's candidate for the Vice President's post during a meeting held on Sunday at former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence. After Heptullah filed her nomination, Vajpayee told media persons that contesting elections was a must.
However, some within the BJP felt that if the party had to field Heptullah, then she should have been asked to file the nomination for the post of President, which would have made the battle between two women stronger and forced Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam to vote for her.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Monday, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat will enter active politics soon. He, however, refused to give any further details.
"It is for him to decide when to make the move. I am sure that he will talk to you soon," he said.
In a related development, the Congress high command denied claims of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah that he had been approached by UPA and the Left parties for the post of Vice President of India but he declined to accept it.
"Dr Farooq Abdullah had visited the Communist Party of India-Marxist headquarters along with his son-in-law Sachin Pilot to convince them about the credentials of Dr Abdullah for the post, but the CPM did not buy the argument.
"It is a ceremonial post and only serious persons can be considered for the post. In the end, he offered to vote for Pratibha provided he was made the chief minister but the Congress made no commitment," sources close to top CPM leaders told rediff.com.
Dr Abdullah was unavailable for comments.
