New Delhi: It was a case of so near yet so far for Vice President Krishan Kant.

Kant, who died early on July 27 following a massive heart attack had nearly made it to the Rashtrapati Bhavan when last month Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi was informed of his name as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s consensus nominee by the Prime Minister.

However, within hours, Gandhi was again contacted and told that Kant was not the NDA choice.

There was virtually a tie in the NDA between Kant and former Maharashtra Governor P C Alexander for the top Constitutional post with an important section of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rooting for Alexander.

However, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who had played a key role in making Kant Vice President five years back, had a change of mind and sprung the name of missile man A P J Abdul Kalam after initially favouring Kant.

Congress, which was uncomfortable with Alexander's possible nomination by the NDA, came out in full support for a second term for K R Narayanan.

However, with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee making it plain that Narayanan was not the NDA choice, Congress had given broad indications that it was not averse to the elevation of Kant.

The rest is history now.

PTI