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Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh said on Monday that he was honoured to be named as the National Democratic Alliance's candidate for Vice President of India. Speaking after his nomination, Singh said that it was both an honour and a responsibility to be named as the NDA's vice-presidential candidate. "It is a great honour for me that the NDA has by consensus nominated me as a vice presidential candidate. It is a great a big responsibility and I would try my best to fulfill my responsibilities," he said. BJP veteran Lal Krishna announced Jaswant Singh's name after a meeting of the NDA coalition, which met here this morning. Advani said the NDA had decided not to give a walkover to the UPA vice presidential candidate nominated for a second term in office. The decision to name Jaswant Singh was taken following a meeting of NDA allies held here. Jaswant Singh, a Member of Parliament from the Darjeeling parliamentary constituency, served as finance minister in the short-lived Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, which lasted just from May 16, 1996, to June 1, 1996. After Vajpayee became the Prime Minister again two years later, he became Minister for External Affairs of India, serving from December 5, 1998 until July 1, 2002. Responsible for foreign policy, he dealt with high tensions between India and Pakistan . In July 2002, he became Finance Minister again, switching posts with Yashwant Sinha. He served as Finance Minister until the defeat of the Vajpayee government in May 2004 and was instrumental in defining and pushing through the market-friendly reforms of the government. Known for his moderate political views, he is a self-described liberal democrat even though the Bharatiya Janata Party is often described as a right-wing nationalist organization. Jaswant Singh was conferred the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year 2001. On August 19, 2009, he was expelled from BJP after criticism over his remarks in his book, which allegedly praised the founder of Pakistan in his book Jinnah - India , Partition, Independence . His last major position was as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha from 2009 to 2010. After the NDA meeting senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said the opposition alliance would not allow a walkover win for UPA vice presidential candidate Mohammad Hamid Ansari. The BJP Core Group met here earlier on Saturday evening after the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) announced Ansari's name for a second term. The last date for the filing of nomination papers for the vice presidential election that is scheduled for August 7, is July 20. Ansari's first term as Vice President ends on August 10.

Jaswant Singh says honoured to be named NDA vice presidential candidate