Jaswant files nomination for vice presidential poll

New Delhi  :  The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the vice presidential poll, Jaswant Singh Friday filed his nomination papers in the presence of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani and alliance convenor Sharad Yadav.

Jaswant Singh filed his papers before Returning Officer T.K. Viswanathan Friday on the last day for nomination. The election is slated for Aug 7.

The veteran BJP leader filed three sets of papers, one each with support from Advani, Sumitra Mahajan and Yashwant Sinha.

Party leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were also present during the occasion. From the allies, Shiv Sena’s Ananth Geete and Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD) Rattan Singh Ajnala, Harsimrat Kaur and Naresh Gujral were present.

Jaswant Singh, who has held several ministerial portfolios, was chosen as the opposition alliance’s unanimous candidate for tne vice president on Monday.

He is pitted against ruling United Progressive Alliance’s Hamid Ansari who is likely to be re-elected for the second term. He has the support of 438 votes in the 790-member electoral college, more than the 50 percent needed to win.

Jaswant Singh joined the Indian Army in 1957 and left it in 1966.