UNPA names Samajwadi MP as VP candidate

New Delhi: With the race for Raisina Hill in its last stretch, the hunt for Vice President has begun.

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, on Monday, announced the name of Rashid Masood as the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) candidate for the post of Vice President of India.

Masood is the Samajwadi party MP from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

On Saturday, UNPA or the erstwhile Third Front parties decided to field their own nominee for the vice-presidential election.

In a big blow to Independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's prospects in the presidential elections, UNPA also formally announced that its MPs and MLAs would abstain during the Presidential elections on 19 July.

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, engaged in what appears to be a lost battle for the presidency, is mulling the idea of fielding former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah as its candidate for next month's election.

Heptullah, a former Congress leader who switched loyalty to the BJP in 2004, could be a likely choice for the vice-presidential candidacy, the BJP leader was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

As for the Left parties, they have spelt out their choice in advance indicating that a non-political person should be UPA's Vice-Presidential candidate.

Sources have told CNN-IBN that names which have been proposed to the Left by secular and Left of Centre intellectuals are Justice K Ramaswamy, retired Supreme Court judge and a Dalit, known for his stand on social reforms, Gopal Gandhi, Governor, West Bengal, respected for his secular credentials and Left-of-Centre views, Mushirul Hasan, Vice Chancellor Jamia Millia, again a man with strong secular credentials and progressive views, Swami Agnivesh, a spiritual leader with Left-of-Centre leanings.