BJP to field its own Vice-President candidate

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Monday it would field its own candidate for the post of Vice-President and would not support the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee. 

"It is natural that the BJP will itself fight the vice president election. We will discuss it with are allies in NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and decide," BJP's national spokesperson and general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Prasad, however, did not comment on who the candidate would be. Insiders said the party is yet to zero in on a candidate.

The party is backing P.A. Sangma for the post of president against the UPA's Pranab Mukherjee.

According to sources, the UPA might go with Vice President Hamid Ansari for a second term.
The vice president's poll, to be held on Aug 8, was notified on July 3. The last date for filing nominations is July 20. The date for scrutiny of nominations is July 21. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is July 23.

The vice president is elected by the members of the electoral college consisting of  members of both houses of parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

The electoral college consists of 790 MPs - 233 elected members of the Rajya Sabha, 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, 543 MPs of the Lok Sabha and two nominated members of the Lok Sabha.