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Ministry of Home Affairs officials on Tuesday expressed doubts that the National Democratic Alliance would pick Dr P C Alexander, who had resigned as the governor of Maharashtra, as its vice-presidential nominee.
One official, who did not wish to be identified, said that since the NDA's presidential nominee, A P J Abdul Kalam, was from the minority community, there was little likelihood of the vice-presidential candidate also being from the minority community.
"It is more likely that Dr Alexander was feeling uneasy after being checkmated as a presidential nominee of the NDA... Maybe he resigned in pique," the official said.
"The other factor which militates against Dr Alexander's vice-presidential candidature is that like Kalam, he too belongs to the southern part of the country. It is more likely that the vice-presidential candidate will be from the north," the official said.
Dr Alexander knew it that the principal opposition party -- the Congress -- would oppose his candidature, another official said.
Initially, when the NDA was considering Dr Alexander as its presidential nominee, the Congress had opposed it.
Congress leaders, including party chief Sonia Gandhi, were reported to be against Dr Alexander because he was close to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray during his gubernatorial stint.
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