New Delhi, Jul 16 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will meet here Monday to finalise its vice presidential candidate.
The meeting comes two days after ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) decided to re-nominate incumbent Hamid Ansari for the post.
BJP, which in a meeting Saturday had decided to fight the vice-presidential elections, will be consulting allies to decide the candidate amid speculation that key ally Janata Dal-United (JD-U) might support Ansari.
The names of BJP leader Jaswant Singh and Najma Heptullah are making rounds as probable vice-presidential candidate choices from the party.
According to sources, to woo ally JD-U, the name of NDA convenor and JD-U Chief Sharad Yadav is also being considered.
Heptullah had unsuccessfully contested for the post against Ansari in 2007.
The JD-U and another NDA ally, Shiv Sena, broke ranks with the BJP to support UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee for the July 19 presidential poll. However, the Shiv Sena has indicated it will back the NDA candidate for vice president.
The Trinamool Congress, which is on a rough patch with the Congress, has suggested the names of former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose's niece and former Lok Sabha member, Krishna Bose.
The vice presidential elections will be held Aug 7.