Former Rajya Sabha deputy selected as NDA candidate

New Delhi : The opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) yesterday decided to field former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson Najma Heptullah as its vice presidential candidate.

The decision came a day ahead of the closing of nominations for the August 10 election.

"It was decided unanimously at the meeting of NDA leaders to nominate Najma Heptullah as the vice presidential candidate. The nomination will be filed at 12.30pm tomorrow [today]," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj announced after an NDA meeting at the residence of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The meeting was attended by almost all NDA constituents except the Shiv Sena, BJP leader V.K. Malhotra said.

With Heptullah, a Rajya Sabha member, representing the BJP, the battle for the post of vice president becomes triangular.

The ruling United Progressive Alliance has announced Hamid Ansari, a former diplomat, as its candidate while Rasheed Masood, the candidate of the "third front" of United National Progressive Alliance has already filed his papers.

With only members of parliament eligible to vote, the UPA candidate should sail through comfortably.