No political background needed for UPA presidential nominee: Karat

The UPA-Left’s candidate for Vice President need not be a someone with a political background, CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat says, reports Sutirtho Patranobis.

The UPA-Left’s candidate for Vice President need not be a someone with a political background, CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Thursday.

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The new Vice President should, however, be a person with an outstanding record in some field and should be able to garner widest acceptance, he added. The election for the Vice President is to be held on August 10.

"The Vice President should be a person who has an exemplary record in some field and should have the widest acceptance," Karat told a television channel. "We have said that the candidate need not have a political background. According to us, it should be someone who has made a contribution," he added.

Karat explained that since the Vice President does not make policies there was no need for the candidate to be a politician. "That is the role of the Vice President. He is not to make rules or policies. He can belong to any party," he added.

Karat said his party was adopting a different stand for Vice Presidential election compared to presidential poll. "What we said with regard to the presidential candidate does not hold for Vice President," he said.

For the presidential candidate, the CPI (M) had made it clear that the person should not only have a political background but should also be able to negotiate the balance between the executive, judiciary and legislature. For that, the party had insisted, that the candidate should have sound knowledge of the Indian Constitution.

The Congress party, however, did not comment on Karat’s suggestion. "UPA is yet to meet. I can't say whether it will be a left choice, a right choice or a central choice," Information and Broadcasting Minister PR Dasmunsi later said.

The leaders of the UPA and the Left are expected to meet in a week's time, probably after the presidential poll on July 19.

On the third alternative, Karat said his party has been working in this regard for the past two years. He said the third alternative would not include the Congress or the BJP.

"The meaning of the third alternative is exactly that. There will be non-Congress, non-BJP parties. The alternatives is based on certain principles," he said, adding that the third alternative will be a force against communalism.