BJP rejects UPA's call for consensus on President

New Delhi, June 16: The BJP today rejected the appeal of the Congress and the UPA for choosing Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil as the next President saying that the NDA would support the candidature of Vice President Bhairon Shekhawat as an Independent candidate.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj told mediapersons here that Mrs Patil's choice as the Presidential nominee was not out of conviction to field the country's first President but more out of 'compulsion'. She was not a natural choice of either the Congress or the Left parties because Home Minister Shivraj Patil was the first choice of the Congress and Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the first choice of the Left Parties. The UPA considered 15 candidates for the post and all of them were males, she said.

She said the basis for the Congress' choice was 'loyalty to the family' while the Left's choice was rooted in survival of the UPA government in Delhi. The NDA would extend its support to Mr Shekhawat with all seriousness and make all efforts to win the contest. It will be a path finder battle that will have a bearing on the future political scenario, she added.

Ms Swaraj said the appeal for a consensus candidate from the UPA came too late in the day after keeping the Opposition out of the consultation process and hence, it was not possible for the NDA to consider their suggestion seriously, if they were to seek the Opposition's cooperation before the announcement of the candidature.

The BJP leader recalled that almost all the Presidential elections in the country so far were unanimous and the only election where the President was declared 'unopposed' was after the returning officer rejected 36 of the 37 nomination papers.

Asked about the arithmetics favouring the UPA candidate, Mrs Swaraj said this election would not be on party lines and the electoral college is open for all contestants. Under such circumstances, there could not be any cross voting, she remarked.

Mrs Swaraj said staturewise, the Vice President stood head and shoulders above the UPA nominee and recalled the support extended by former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, who was not part of the NDA. The Third Front consisting of anti-Congress parties like the Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam Party, Asom Gana Parishad and Indian National Lok Dal had announced that they would not support the Congress or the BJP but an Independent.

She said Mr Shekhawat was no longer in the BJP and had resigned from the party after a long association on the eve of the Vice Presidential polls. He was no longer with the BJP and hence, would contest as an Independent. She also ruled out Mr Shekhawat's relinquishing the post for contesting the elections as there were numerous number of incidents when Vice Presidents have contested the elections being in post.

The NDA would be announcing its choice formally on June 18 when the NDA will meet to finalise its choice.

Answering questions' she expressed confidence that the Shiv Sena would be part of the NDA.

Asked whether the BJP had anything against UPA nominee Pratibha Patil conducting herself in the Governor's Chair, Mrs Swaraj said it was obvious that her choice as President was due to her loyalty to the family and not her loyalty to the country, Constitution and the office.

Mrs Patil may not have acquired the notoreity of Congress Governors like Ram Lal or Buta Singh but her returning the anti-conversion bill just because Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to her as Governor of Rajasthan did not acquit herself properly, she said.

UNI