 |
| Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the UPA coordination meeting. Photo© PIB |
New Delhi: It seems that Vice-President
Hamid Ansari is all set get a second term in his current job after United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi formally declared M. Hamid
Ansari as its candidate for the vice-presidential poll at a meeting at Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence here on Saturday.
If the 75-year-old Ansari, a
career diplomat, and former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, makes
it, he will follow in the footsteps of philosopher-statesman S. Radhakrishnan
who got two terms as Vice-President between 1952 and 1962.
As UPA
announced Hamid Ansari as its candidate, the CPM, CPI and the Forward Bloc
indicated they would back him, while the RSP announced it would not support him
and may abstain from voting.
The TMC, the
UPA’s second biggest constituent, is still undecided on Ansari. Party chief
Mamata Banerjee reportedly told Singh she would convey her decision in two
days.
According to
media Manmohan Singh has called up Mamata Banerjee on Saturday evening and has
sought her support for the UPA’s candidate.
The PM also spoke to BJP leader
LK Advani, party chief Nitin Gadkari and leaders of the opposition Sushma
Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, seeking support for Ansari.