Jaswant meets Mulayam, sparks speculation on Vice Prez post

Jaswant Singh today met Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav triggering speculation within the BJP that its leader could be lobbying for the Vice President's post.

Singh took the media by surprise when he turned up at Yadav's residence in the morning while the SP chief was playing host to yoga guru Ramdev. He spent some moments with Yadav and had a one-on-one chat with him.

While party leaders refrained from openly voicing their dissent against Singh on this issue, they said he was making these efforts when it is clear the Congress-led UPA does not need BJP or NDA support for either the President or the Vice-President's post.

Asked about the issue, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar was evasive, saying, "A meeting between leaders of different parties is always a good thing. Leaders should meet with one another often... When the NDA takes a decision on the President or Vice-President candidate at the appropriate time and we will convey it to the media."

However, some leaders of the party firmly supported Singh, insisting that he has been authorised by BJP president Nitin Gadkari to liaison with other parties on behalf of the party and the NDA.

"It is wrong to say that he is behaving like P A Sangma and is lobbying for his candidature. His meeting with Yadav was well within the knowledge of L K Advani and the party president and with their consent. He is not freelancing for himself," a BJP leader said.

BJP leaders accepted that Singh may have broached his own candidature too during today's meeting.