July 14: The UPA today nominated Hamid Ansari for next month’s Vice-President election overruling ally Trinamul Congress.
Trinamul Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh later said the Prime Minister had called Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee after the UPA meeting to seek her support for Ansari. “She told him she would decide in two or three days and inform him,” Ghosh said.
Ansari, a former IFS officer, appears poised to emulate the late S. Radhakrishnan in getting a second term as Vice-President. Although the BJP refused to support him when the Prime Minister called leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and L.K. Advani, the UPA hopes to win around 70 per cent of the votes.
Apart from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Left is expected to vote for Ansari.
The Prime Minister also spoke to JD(U) national president Sharad Yadav. The JD(U), which broke ranks with ally BJP on the presidential elections, is yet to make up its mind on the Vice-President. While Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is said to be “favourably inclined” towards Ansari, sources said he would wait for the BJP to spell out its stand on the issue.
At today’s meeting of the UPA, Sonia Gandhi chose not to respond to Trinamul’s Mukul Roy — the railway minister — who proposed the names of former Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and former MP Krishna Bose and proceeded to announce Ansari’s name.
“Mohd Hamid Ansari will complete shortly a term as Vice-President of India. He has presided over the Rajya Sabha with dignity and distinction. The UPA is honoured to nominate him as its candidate for a second term,” she said.
Sources said the meeting had been a mere formality. Manmohan Singh had spoken to all the UPA partners and supporting parties over the past few days and the decision to re-nominate Ansari had already been taken.
Even Mamata had been informed but she still chose to register her disagreement. However, Congress sources said Roy had clapped when Ansari’s name was announced and suggested this probably implied that “disagreement” might not mean “opposition”.
“We had no prior information about the agenda of today’s meeting,” Roy later said. “I shall inform the party chairperson about the UPA’s decision; she will take the final call in a day or two.”
Congress leaders brushed aside questions about the Trinamul’s disagreement, asserting they were more concerned about ensuring the victory of the UPA candidate and that this now looked assured with the selection of Ansari.
The Congress had initially toyed with the idea of fielding a party candidate, but gradually veered round to sticking with Ansari after Mulayam Singh Yadav indicated his willingness to support him.
The dominant view in the UPA was to have a Muslim as Vice-President after choosing a Brahmin for Rashtrapati Bhavan. So, it was decided not to ignore Ansari’s claim. Possible support from the Left and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) was also a factor.
Trinamul’s objections might have received more serious consideration had Mamata engaged herself with the UPA leadership instead of adopting an antagonistic posture after Pranab Mukherjee was fielded for the President’s post.
The Congress leadership chose not to entertain Mamata’s suggestions at a time she was acting more like an adversary than an ally. Mamata was not even accorded primacy during the consultation process despite being the biggest ally.
Picked as a surprise choice in 2007, primarily because the Left had pushed his case, Ansari has endeared himself to the UPA leadership over the past five years. So much so that Sonia had floated his name as a possible presidential candidate.
Sources said she felt it would be discourteous not to consider him even for Vice-President now.
