NDA nominee Mr Jaswant Singh today filed his nomination papers for the Vice-Presidential polls in the presence of Opposition leaders including Mr L.K. Advani, Ms Sushma Swaraj and Mr Sharad Yadav.
74-year-old Singh, whose candidature was declared by NDA on July 16, filed his papers before Returning Officer Mr T.K. Viswanathan, who is the Lok Sabha Secretary General.
Three sets of papers — one each by Mr L. K. Advani, Ms Sumitra Mahajan and Mr Yashwant Sinha — supporting Mr Singh’s candidature were submitted to Mr Viswanathan.
Soon after filing his nomination, Mr Singh said elections to the high offices of President and Vice-President are “historic moments“.
Besides JD (U) Mr Sharad Yadav, who is the NDA Convernor, and BJP leader Mr Arun Jaitley, Mr Ananth Geete from Shiv Sena and Mr Rattan Singh Ajnala, Mr Harsimrat Kaur and Mr Naresh Gujral from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) were also present on the occasion along with several BJP leaders.
Though UPA candidate Mr Hamid Ansari is set to enter the history books as the only person after Mr S. Radhakrishnan to get a second consecutive term as Vice-President, NDA has decided to field Mr Singh as it does not want to give the ruling coalition a walkover.
Mr Singh, a former External Affairs, Finance and Defence Minister, has provided a semblance of seriousness to the contest.
NDA was keen on putting up a fight against Mr Ansari as it is unhappy with his conduct in the Rajya Sabha on December 29 last year, when he abruptly adjourned the House while the Lokpal Bill debate was on.