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| Muslim factor is highlighted in Vice-Presidential poll | | | BL KAK
NEW DELHI, JULY 20: Indian political class has, once again, highlighted the significance and relevance of Muslims in the country. Following in the footsteps of UNPA, the Left, too, announced a Muslim candidate — former diplomat Hamid Ansari — as its candidate for the Vice-Presidential elections. Ansari is a career diplomat and currently the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities.
UNPA's Vice-Presidential candidate, Rasheed Masood, filed his nomination papers on Friday. UNPA leaders, including Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Telugu Desam Party chief, N Chandrababu Naidu, INLD chief, Om Prakash Chautala, and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) chief Brindaban Goswami, were present on the occasion.
The Vice-Presidential polls will be held on August 10. The Left parties had met on Thursday to decide on the UPA nominee. The leaders had indicated that the candidate would be a "non-party" person with a sound political background. With both Masood and Ansari in the fray, the UNPA and Left parties are pressing their agenda to identify with the minorities in UP and elsewhere.
As emphasised by AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, Masood's nomination will help the newly-formed, eight-party coalition acquire an identity distinct from the UPA and the NDA.
The UPA-Left-BSP combine have a clear majority in Parliament. However, by fielding Masood, the UNPA might have restricted the former's choice to a Muslim candidate or one belonging to some other minority community. Masood fought his first election from Saharanpur as an independent candidate in 1974 and lost. Since then he has fought eight Lok Sabha elections from Saharanpur, winning five times
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