NDA meets for Vice Presidential poll

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the August 7 Vice Presidential poll, NDA constituents today met at the residence of BJP leader L K Advani in a bid to keep its flock together.

Chaired by Advani, the various NDA constituents discussed measures to garner more support for the NDA nominee Jaswant Singh, who is pitted in a direct contest with incumbent Hamid Ansari.

Among those who attended the meeting were JD-U's Sharad Yadav, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and Shiromani Akali Dal's Naresh Gujral.

Besides Leaders of Opposition in both Houses Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, other BJP leaders who attended the meet included Murli Manohar Joshi and Rajnath Singh, besides Jaswant Singh.

The BJP has also nominated Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shahnawaz Hussain to assist Jaswant Singh in his campaign for the Vice Presidential poll, party sources said.

A total of 790 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs comprise the electoral college for the election of Vice President.