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The ruling National Democratic Alliance has cleared the candidature of veteran Bharatiya Janata Party politician and former Rajasthan chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat for the post of India's vice-president, a top home ministry official confirmed on Monday.
The official told rediff.com that Shekhawat's name was first cleared at a high-level meeting of BJP office-bearers presided over by president M Venkaiah Naidu at the party's Ashoka Road headquarters on Saturday. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani attended this meeting.
Then on Sunday, BJP members proposed his name at a meeting of the NDA's co-ordination committee at Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence.
The official said BJP members insisted that since the NDA's presidential candidate, A P J Abdul Kalam, had been chosen "unanimously", the vice-presidential candidate should be from their party.
None of the NDA partners objected to Shekhawat's candidature, the official said. "The issue is settled," he said. "Shekhawat's name will be announced soon."
Shekhawat's candidature got a major boost when Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assured Vajpayee on the telephone on Monday that the TDP would abide by the prime minister's choice.
The NDA meeting authorised Vajpayee to consult other parties before taking a final decision on the matter. But the NDA has a majority in the two Houses of Parliament combined and no difficulty is envisaged in its candidate's victory.
BJP sources said that while a couple of other names had initially been floated as nominees, only Shekhawat's candidature was discussed at the party meeting on Saturday.
A dedicated BJP politician, Shekhawat started his career as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak [propagator]. His imminent election as vice-president will be a blow to the aspirations of several politicians.
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