NDA urges UNPA to participate in presidential polling

New Delhi, July 17 (UNI) Asserting that there can be no effective independent Third Front polity without aligning either with the Congress or the BJP, the NDA today asked the UNPA to participate in the polling for the Presidential election.

NDA spokesperson Sushma Swaraj, terming the Third Front's decision to abstain a ''historical mistake'', said it should realise that the move was not only against the spirit of the law and Constitution but also its own political interest. ''When you ask the common man to come to the polling booths to cast his vote for you, how fair is it to abstain from voting when it is incumbent on you?'' She asked.

The UNPA partners should also ponder as to whom it would benefit, ''indirectly'', if they were to abstain?, she asked.

''The anti-Congress and anti-BJP stance may work out in some states but at the national level it will not work. You will have to remain aligned one way or the other,'' Ms Swaraj said, pointing out how the Left parties, despite being a regional force, had to be on the side of Congress.

''The third front at best can hold conclaves but their style of politics can't work. This is the reality and abstention will be a historic mistake,'' she remarked.

The NDA's appeal comes in the wake of its complaint before the Election Commission to clarify its stand on the UNPA's dictat to its MPs and MLA to abstain from polling in the July 19 presidential polls, which according to the BJP-led alliance tantamounts to issuing a whip, which is ''illegal''.

Asked if this meant that the NDA-backed nominee Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was losing, she said ''The Vice-President is sure to win...we will be appealing each and every individual voter in the electoral college for support.'' Asked if the NDA would support UNPA's Vice-Presidential candidate Rasheed Masood, Mrs Swaraj quoted an UNPA leader saying that they would not seek support from the NDA. ''If you can't get support from the NDA it can only be a token contest,'' she said, adding that the NDA was ready to support their candidate in return for their support in presidential poll.

Meanwhile, the NDA Parliamentary Party is holding its meeting at Parliament Annexe this evening and will have a dinner meeting tomorrow at former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mr Shekhawat has been invited for tomorrow's meeting, she said.

UNI