New Delhi, July 16 (ANI): Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Monday expressed confidence that NDA's vice presidential candidate Jaswant Singh would win the election by a margin of 60 percent, as the Members of Parliament would equate better with him than UPA nominee Mohammad Hamid Ansari.
"Now, there is no party whip here, it's a secret ballot, if Jaswant Singh wins the government is not going to fall quite clearly. And
Rajya Sabha is not a place, where no confidence motions can be brought, only in the Lok Sabha it can be brought. So, I think the MPs will all vote on the basis of who they can relate to," said Swamy.
"Since Jaswant Singh is a politician, MPs will find it easier to relate to him; whereas Ansari is a bureaucrat, therefore he has a bureaucratic approach and MPs are not happy with him," he added.
Swamy also justified the NDA's vice presidential choice, saying Jaswant Singh is a man of great experience.
"The Rajya Sabha is a place where the Vice President will sit and conduct the proceedings. He should be a man of great eminence, he should be a man who has personal knowledge of how parliament functions, the rules and regulations. Now, on all these dimensions, Jaswant Singh qualifies because he has been Cabinet Minister holding several portfolios, he has been Member of Parliament for six-seven times, he has been negotiating on behalf of the Government of India with several countries," said Swamy.
"His experience, his knowledge, his contacts, are widespread, and he was also troubleshooter for the NDA when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister," he added.
Swamy also used the occasion to take potshots at UPA's vice presidential nominee, saying Hamid Ansari has been only an Ambassador and the manner in which he conducted the Rajya Sabha on the Lokpal Bill and the Women's Reservation Bill was terrible.
"Ansari is not of that capability. He has been only an Ambassador, he has never seen Parliament, he doesn't know what Parliament is. His behaviour in the Jan Lokpal Bill was so terrible and Women's Reservation Bill was so terrible that I think every MP feels that he is unfit for the job," he said.
Earlier in the day, the NDA unanimously selected senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh as its candidate for the vice presidential election against UPA nominee Hamid Ansari.
The last date for nomination for the vice president election, scheduled for August 7, is July 20.
Ansari's term as Vice President ends on August 10. (ANI)