Raising the tempo of the presidential debate, the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded its star campaigner Sushma Swaraj to hold media briefings and fire her own brand of "missiles" at the manner in which United Progressive Alliance selected Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil Shekhawat to contest against Vice President of India Bhairon Singh Shehwawat for the post of President of India.
She launched a scathing attack on the Congress and Left parties in particular for trying to evolve a consensus after announcing the candidate of their choice.
"We outrightly rejected the proposal of a consensus. There would be a contest. The Left has done it in the past; when all parties including Congress approved the name of A P J Abdul Kalam, the Left fielded Captain Laxmi Sehgal," she said at a press conference on Saturday at the BJP headquarters.
She questioned the token selection of a woman candidate. "Left wanted Pranab Mukherjee, Congress wanted Shivraj Patil. Even after that the names of male politicians continued to be discussed, and when nothing was left, the choice fell on Pratibha," Sushma said.
"It is a false choice," she said adding, that the choise was not a natural, but done under compulsion.
She clarified that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would announce his decision on supporting and not sponsoring an independent candidate because in the presidential elections individuals contest and not parties or their nominees.
"This should also clear the position that contesting candidates can contact all potential voters and there is nothing called cross-voting as there is no whip," she pointed out.
Discussing the implications of the United Progressive Alliance choice, Sushma said that Sonia Gandhi was happy to have found a family loyalist and the Left that it has saved UPA from collapse.
She questioned the manner in which the media was calculating the total number of votes that each candidate may get. "This is not proper because the whole electoral college is open," she said.
On being asked whether the Third Front announcing its own candidate would help NDA allies, she said this would be known only on June 18 when Third Front also holds its meeting.
Has Najma Heptullah missed the bus by joining BJP? "Ask her," she shot back.
