'Vajpayee's choice on Prez nominee acceptable'

New Delhi, Jun 1: Declining to comment on reports that Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat is likely to be in the presidential race as an Independent, the BJP today said it would abide by the decision of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the issue.

Asked to comment on the reports in the media that Mr Shekhawat will contest as an Independent, BJP Spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said, that the BJP would be happy to have him as the Presidential nominee but as far as the NDA is concerned, it had authorised Mr Vajpayee to discuss the issue with non-NDA parties and take a final decision.

"Whatever is his decision, it is acceptable to us", Mr Prasad said.

Observers feel that Mr Shekhawat is the best bet of the NDA who could poach into ruling UPA votes. His status as an 'Independent candidate' would bolster his chances to win support from parties like Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam and All India Anna DMK and some small parties who may feel uncomfortable to side with ''saffron candidate''. Given the personal relationship between Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh and BSP Chief Mayawati, the two can never be on the same side and their value of votes are almost equal given the number of MPs and MLAs on their side.

There have been numerous meetings among the NDA leaders after they authorised Mr Vajpayee to enter into discussions on the issue.

Mr Vajpayee, on his part, has favoured the next President to be a 'consensus choice' like Dr APJ Abdul Kalam but has not said anything about naming Mr Shekhawat as NDA's candidate.

Mr Shekhawat had in the Vice Presidential elections in 2002, secured 57 votes from non-NDA parties, because his personal support base transcended political affiliations.

UNI