Drama before the countdown

True, the die for NDA nominee for the Vice-Presidential poll, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, was cast well before today8217;s polling but it was ...

True, the die for NDA nominee for the Vice-Presidential poll, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, was cast well before today8217;s polling but it was the day8217;s asides, some barely noticeable and others obvious, which added colour to what otherwise would have been a cut-and-dried election.

If Sushil Kumar Shinde saw the writing on the wall early on, his Congress training ensured he did not show it. Asked how he weighed his chances, he said with a straight face: 8216;8216;Till yesterday, I thought I had a good fight on my hands. Today I am more on the ground.8217;8217;

Asked if any NDA party had assured support to him, he said: 8216;8216;Nobody approached me, but I did approach the Trinamool8217;8217;. The Trinamool brigade refrained from voting, though senior partyman Ajit Kumar Panja did cast his vote of dissent.

Top leaders, including PM A.B. Vajpayee, Deputy PM L.K. Advani, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and RJD chief Laloo Yadav were among the early voters. Over seventy per cent of MPs cast their votes within first three hours of the polling, making it a brisk affair.

Whereas Shekhawat appeared briefly to shake hands with MPs, Shinde remained glued to the voting room. As the Opposition nominee shook hands with Pramod Mahajan who was the first to cast his vote, he told cameraman: yeh to mere he gaon ka hai Mahajan is from my village in Maharashtra.8217;8217;

Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh gave a bear hug to Shinde 8212; though probably not his vote 8212; while Omar Abdullah shook hands with him effusively.

Samajwadi Party chief M.S. Yadav arrived in strength, surrounded by half-a-dozen partymen. But his trusted lieutenant Amar Singh came alone, and dressed all in black.

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Union Minister Sahib Singh Verma, victim of a road accident two days ago, made his entry on a wheel chair; Vijay Mallaya, now Vice-President of JDU, came hand in hand with Rajiv Shukla.

Outside the voting room, Mallaya stopped to crack jokes with Shekhawat while the latter fiddled with the beer-baron8217;s diamond-studded necklaces.