Jaswant Singh files nomination for Vice Presidential poll

NEW DELHI: NDA's nominee Jaswant Singh today filed his nomination papers for the Vice Presidential poll in the presence of opposition leaders including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Sharad Yadav.

74-year-old Singh, whose candidature was declared by NDA on July 16, filed his papers before Returning Officer T K Viswanathan, who is the Lok Sabha Secretary General.

Three sets of papers- one each by L K Advani, Sumitra Mahajan and Yashwant Sinha- supporting Singh's candidature were submitted to Viswanathan.

Soon after filing his nomination, Singh said elections to the high offices of President and Vice-President are "historic moments".

Besides JD (U) Sharad Yadav, who is the NDA Convernor, and BJP leader Arun Jaitley, Ananth Geete from Shiv Sena and Rattan Singh Ajnala, Harsimrat Kaur and Naresh Gujral from Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) were also present on the occasion along with several BJP leaders.

Though UPA candidate Hamid Ansari is set to enter the history books as the only person after S Radhakrishnan to get a second consecutive term as Vice President, NDA has decided to field Singh as it does not want to give the ruling coalition a walkover.

Singh, a former External Affairs, Finance and Defence Minister, has provided a semblance of seriousness to the contest.

NDA was keen on putting up a fight against Ansari as it is unhappy with his conduct in the Rajya Sabha on December 29, last year when he abruptly adjourned the House while the Lokpal Bill debate was on.