Vice president's office has been undervalued: Jaswant

Former external affairs and finance minister Jaswant Singh, 74, in an exclusive interview denied media allegations that he was gunning for the vice president's post, and that he had called on Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to seek his support for his bid.

Soon after his nomination on Monday, Singh started calling Bharatiya Janata Party chief ministers and allies to seek their support for his vice presidential bid. He spoke to Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav, and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who extended him their full support. Singh will face off against the United Progressive Alliance nominee, incumbent Hamid Ansari.

During the day Jaswant Singh took some time to speak to rediff.com's Onkar Singh. An excerpt:

Tell us the circumstances under which the BJP selected you as its vice presidential nominee and the JD-U extended its support.

There is no great mystery behind my nomination. It is the party's decision that I should contest against the incumbent. The party, along with other National Democratic Alliance partners deliberated on various choices and singled me out as the opposition candidate. I was selected for this prestigious post unanimously.

Don't you think your political career would come to an end if you lose the election?

No, I do not think so. On the contrary, it would enhance my status within the party. I will continue to be active in politics.

When you went to meet Mulayam, the media alleged that you were promoting yourself. True? 

The stories that were carried were unfortunate and they hurt me, but these things do happen. It is a matter of how you interpret a particular event. There is nothing that one can do about it.

Then why did you meet the SP chief?

I had gone there at the party's directive to find out if he would support the candidature of APJ Abdul Kalam for the post of President as suggested by him and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at their joint press conference.

Did Yadav make any commitment?

No. As events revealed later, he went back on his promise and instead supported Pranab Mukherjee's candidature. It is unfortunate that the media took a very different view.

But your own party's reaction to your meeting Yadav was different...

I am not sure if they had a different view, as they were well aware of the party's directive to me.

Senior BJP leader LK Advani has gone on record that the party was unhappy with Ansari -- because of the manner in which he handled things, particularly during the Lokpal Bill debate.

I have no comments to offer on this.

Did you take note of the fact that the parliamentary arithmetic is against you in this election?

I have never taken arithmetic into account while taking a decision. I personally feel that the vice president's office has been greatly undervalued. The VP is supposed to be the President's 'voice'. But so far, he has been relegated to be the chairman of the Rajya Sabha. That is all that I can say.