It is now almost certain that Najma Heptulla, lately from the Congress and now member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Rajasthan) from the Bharatiya Janata Party, is not going to be elected vice-president.

She needs 400 votes out of 798 in an electoral college comprising MPs from both Houses of Parliament for a significant win.

As the Third Front has set up a candidate against her and he has not withdrawn from the contest, the opposition votes will be split.

The vice-president used to be chairman of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations ex-officio.

This provision was changed specifically for Heptulla by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, which separated the two posts.

It was done in such a legally watertight manner that as foreign minister, K Natwar Singh tried his damndest but could not get her out of the office -- Heptulla had negotiated her terms of employment with customary competence and efficiency.

When that didn't work, the CBI was pressed into service to investigate charges of human trafficking.

The arrow hit the wrong target. Rakesh Kumar, special secretary in the ministry of external affairs, was booked for facilitating illegal trafficking of nine individuals to Berlin during his tenure as ICCR director general.

No evidence of wrongdoing was found on Heptulla's part. The irony was Heptulla had asked for him by name because she found it impossible to pull along with his predecessor.

Anyway, nothing would have come to light if the government hadn't gone after her. That was the upside of harassment.

Harassment is not something Heptulla has ever been afraid of. As deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha for 17 years, she managed to master the art of staying genial and good-tempered while delivering the slaps on the wrist that she frequently had to.

But if you riled her too much you would have seen a furious virago, as indeed one of the more boisterous MPs (who shall remain nameless) discovered.

Heptulla got so mad at him for repeatedly violating the order of the House that she sliced the din in the House with a quiet, curt "sit down" delivered with such venom, that everyone fell silent, taken aback. Then she left the House.

If the work of a deputy chairman is hard, that of the chairman is equally so. Try controlling 240-odd MPs, all trying to speak at once.

As the Upper House comprises senior, mostly well-read members, most of them are better acquainted with the rule book than the chair.

So unless you have your wits about you, they can run rings around the chair. As deputy chairman, Heptulla once said: "Not only do you have to have rotating eyes, but they have to rotate behind your head as well." This is absolutely true.

When she agreed to run for vice-president, Heptulla knew she had very little chance of winning.

Moreover, she knew there couldn't be two women -- President and vice-president. This is going to be the Congress' argument to justify voting against her, an educated woman Muslim.

Then why did she offer herself as lamb for slaughter? To come out of the isolation she's fallen in, for one. She left the Congress to join the BJP when, capping a string of humiliations, she was denied another term in the Rajya Sabha and as its presiding officer by the Congress.

But she hasn't been able to do much in the Upper House since then. She shines when the spotlight is on her. It hasn't been on her for some time. Running for vice-president offered the option of winning to lose.

The Trinamool Congress and the Shiv Sena, who had said they would not support the NDA in the presidential election, have come out in the NDA's favour in the vice-presidential poll.

Heptulla can claim at least a small bit of the credit for helping the BJP rid itself of the "untouchable" tag. From a personal point of view, she has driven a stake in the ground for her claim in the next presidential poll.

Would Heptulla have secured a better deal if she had stayed in the Congress? The Congress argues that they gave her everything, but she left the party to join the other side over a post.

But it is hard to imagine, even as a Muslim woman, what she would have achieved. The chain of command in decisionmaking in the Congress is clear, but who influences these decisions is an open question.

There is absolutely no reason why educated, articulate Muslims like Salman Khursheed should be wasted by the party. The only explanation is that the Muslim leadership in the Congress uses a pick-and-choose policy to deliberately promote non-threatening Muslims.

It's hard to understand why K Rehman Khan, who was deputy chairman for three years, could not have been promoted, instead of importing a Muslim for vice-presidentship, however progressive, bright and competent he might be.

When Heptulla was asked what she thought of the Sachar Committee, her answer was: "What is in the committee report is true. But you should ask those who are promoting it today in the name of Muslim empowerment what they did for the community all these years."

Behind her comment was the background of her bitter struggle to get a place in the sun in Maharashtra Congress politics dominated by the likes of A R Antulay.

Heptulla will be a philosophical loser. Some would argue that her brand of politics has brought her where she is. But the net loss will be India's. There is no way of telling if people recognise this.

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