KEEN CONTEST: Abdullah (above) is banking on NDA; Congress' Heptullah (middle) and Mukherjee are hoping for a deal with the BJP

The office of the vice-president is usually seen as a stepping stone to the post of president of India. On August 22, 2002, the second citizen's job falls vacant when incumbent Krishan Kant's term ends. The election for vice-president is inevitably linked to the presidential election for the simple reason that those who don't make it to Rashtrapati Bhavan invariably lower their ambition and bid for this office.

Barring the first vice-president, the venerable Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, no vice-president has served two terms. He was the copybook number two for both of Rajendra Prasad's presidential terms. That is why if President K.R. Narayanan gets a second term, Kant's friends believe that he too will continue. Unfortunately, nobody in serious political circles sees such a possibility.

Kant was governor of Andhra Pradesh when close friend and then prime minister I.K. Gujral made him vice-president in 1997. He has no such patrons today. Neither does the first Rajya Sabha chairman to preside over the House beyond the Question Hour have any friends in Parliament.

Aspirants for the vice-presidency include the ubiquitous L.M. Singhvi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah. Names of Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Kanshi Ram are also doing the rounds.

The vice-president is elected by both the houses of Parliament and since the NDA has a majority here-as evident in the POTO vote-the new face has to necessarily be acceptable to the ruling alliance. Ever since Farooq announced his plans to retire from state politics, the BJP has toyed with the idea of making him vice-president. "But our only worry," confides a BJP functionary, "is that he is too flippant to preside over the Rajya Sabha as its chairman."

Congress aspirants Heptullah and Mukherjee have pinned hopes on their party striking a deal with the Government in the presidential election and bargaining for the vice-presidency. A second term for Narayanan could, however, spoil things.

The NDA doesn't mind backing Heptullah, who has been deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha for the past 15 years. "She is eminently qualified," says a BJP minister, "but the moot point is does her party back her?" Heptullah's friends point to the symbolic value of choosing her in this the International Year of Women's Empowerment.

Mukherjee is banking on his acceptability across party lines. He has served as cabinet minister for seven years, with portfolios ranging from finance to foreign affairs. Says a Mukherjee aide: "Before Narayanan, who was only a minister of state in the Rajiv Gandhi government, all vice-presidents had been very eminent people or cabinet ministers." Admirable as Mukherjee's reasoning may be, the fact is his party is nowhere close to dictating terms in a parliamentary vote. What is most likely is the BJP will help itself to the vice-president's job.

-Lakshmi Iyer