Ansari ahead in Vice Presidential sweepstakes

NEW DELHI: The Vice Presidential election scheduled for Friday appears to be a mere formality with UPA-Left nominee Hamid Ansari far ahead of his two rivals in the numbers game.

While Najma Heptullah of the NDA and Rasheed Masood of the UNPA are in the fray, the number game is heavily loaded in favour of Ansari in the all-Muslim race.

The UPA-Left along with the BSP commands the support of 425 MPs of the total of 788 members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi has declined to hazard any guess as to how many votes Ansari would secure in the electoral college which at present has a strength of 783 members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The NDA has the backing of 240 MPs, while the stand of one of its partners -- Trinamool Congress -- is still not known and the Shiv Sena appears to be cosying up again with the BJP with whom its ties were strained in the Presidential poll.

The Third Front, formally known as the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), has 81 MPs.

A successful candidate needs to secure 393 votes.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is also the UPA chairperson, last night hosted a dinner for MPs and leaders of the ruling alliance, the Left and supporting parties in a show of strength ahead of the Vice Presidential election. Ansari was also present at the dinner.

The election has failed to generate heat, unlike in the presidential poll that witnessed unprecedented mud-slinging.