Left a divided house over Vice-Presidential nominee

New Delhi, July 18 (UNI) On the eve of their first formal meeting on the Vice-Presidential election, the Left parties do not appear to be in agreement with CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat's view that their nominee should be a non-political person.

The four Left parties -- the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc will meet tomorrow afternoon at CPI(M) headquarters A K Gopalan Bhawan here to decide on their nominee for the second highest constitutional post.

CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat has recently asserted that it was not incumbent upon the nominee to the office of the Vice-President to have a political standing as was the case with the candidate to the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The assertion opened the doors for consideration of various eminent people from diverse fields like academics, history, economy and science.

Talking to UNI, top leaders of the CPI and the Forward Bloc said this was their ''considered view'' that the candidate for the office of Vice-President should have a political background as he has to preside over the House of Elders and conduct the business, which also involved serious political issues.

CPI National Secretary Shamim Faizi said, ''The first condition is that he should be from a non-Congress party and that he should not be necessarily a non-political person.'' In tomorrow's meeting, Mr Faizi said, the CPI would reiterate the same stand.

Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas went to the extent of saying that the candidate must be a ''Left's candidate.'' ''Yeh bilkul pakka hai(It is absolutely certain) that the candidate will be from the Left,'' Mr Biswas stressed while refusing to divulge the details.

Till Sunday, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan was the front runner in the race of the candidature to the post of Vice-President.

But in a press conference, the same day, the CPI veteran announced that he was not for the coveted post even if there was a consensus on his name.

The other names doing the rounds are Leftist historians Irfan Habib and Prof Mushirul Hassan, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Hashim Abdul Haleem and Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz among others.

While the United National Progressive Alliance has announced the candidature of Mr Rashid Masood for the post, the NDA is pondering over the names of former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptulla and Lok Sabha Deputy Chairman Charnjit Singh Atwal.

The arithmatic of the electoral college comprising the members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is clearly in favour of the UPA- Left-BSP candidate.

A CPI(M) leader said the media was merely speculating on various names for the Vice-Presidential poll leading to confusion.

He hoped that a consensus will emerge on the potential candidate at tomorrow's meeting, which would be forwarded to UPA for its response.

The name could be announced by July 20 or 21, he divulged.

UNI