By IANS
New Delhi : The opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is inclined to nominate Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal for the post of vice president, though it will await the results of the presidential elections before announcing its candidate.
Though the name of former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Najma Heptullah has been doing rounds as the NDA candidate for the second highest post in the country, alliance sources indicated she is no more the frontrunner.
Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief, had spoken to BJP leaders to field Atwal.
"The NDA may be better equipped to face the vice presidential elections, because the BJP allies may be more willing to back an alliance partner," explained a BJP insider, referring to Atwal, who is from SAD.
The alliance will announce its candidate Sunday.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani told reporters Friday: "We will decide on the vice presidential candidate on Sunday."
Advani was talking to reporters at a lunch in honour of Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat at NDA convenor George Fernandes' residence where all BJP leaders including party president Rajnath Singh were present.
Shekhawat contested Thursday's presidential elections an NDA-backed independent against Pratibha Patil, the candidate of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
The BJP seemed to have already conceded the victory to Patil. Shekhawat's spokesperson and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said, "We have already achieved a moral victory and even in terms of votes the gap will not be very big."
Unlike the presidential election in which the NDA got tacit support from sections of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), it will have to fight on its own with the 'third front' fielding Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha member Rasheed Masood as its candidate.
Masood filed his nomination papers Friday, accompanied by leaders of all eight constituents of UNPA including Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala and some AIADMK MPs.
The UNPA had last week announced it would not vote in the presidential poll, but MPs and legislators of AIADMK and MDMK exercised their franchise, surprising alliance partners.
TDP and Samajwadi Party leaders tried to underplay the u-turn. Replying to queries, Naidu said: "She (AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa) has already explained the confusion. Such things happen in a coalition."
Yadav also dismissed any rift in the newly formed front and said, "The UNPA is as strong as it ever was."