New Delhi, July 15 (IBNS): Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh is among the front running names to be fielded by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as their candidate against Hamid Ansari in the polls to elect the vice-president.
According to an NDTV report, the name of Jaswant Singh is doing the rounds in BJP circles ahead of their meeting Monday to decide on a name for the poll to be held on Aug 7.
BJP earlier made it clear that it will not support the nomination of Vice President Hamid Ansari for a second term and instead pitch its own candidate against the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) choice.
Though no name was mentioned officially, the party earlier said it will select a candidate following consultation with allies.
The BJP top brass that met on Saturday evening at party president Nitin Gadkari's residence to finalise its strategy for the elections, has called for a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members on July 16 to discuss the matter.
The move comes after the Congress-led UPA on Saturday renominated Hamid Ansari for a second term as the Vice-President of the country.
Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mukul Roy attended the UPA meeting on behalf of West Bengal Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief after opposing Pranab Mukherjee as the Presidential candidate also made it clear that her vice-president choices are different.
But reports on Sunday said one of the TMC choices, former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi, has refused to contest.
