Rajnath meets Shekhawat

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the crucial meeting of NDA to decide its stand on Presidential election, BJP chief Rajnath Singh on Sunday had a meeting here with Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is tipped to be the independent nominee backed by the opposition alliance for the top post.

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, who had recently remarked that Shekhawat would contest the July 19 election as an independent backed by NDA, also met the Vice President.

Former Union Minister and JD(U) leader Digvijay Singh, a close associate of Shekhawat, also held parleys with him. The meeting of NDA leaders is scheduled tomorrow.

Former Prime Minister and NDA Chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee has already rebuffed a plea by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for unanimity on the UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil.

Vajpayee was authorised by the NDA to evolve a consensus on the issue.

The meetings by the BJP leaders with Shekhawat came against the backdrop of growing concern in the party over the "ambiguous" stand of Shiv Sena on Patil's candidature and a section of JD-U speaking in a different voice.