The reality, however, is far from it.

In fact, the Left, more specifically, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, and Congress negotiators were never on the same page — even RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was roped in by the Congress only to be snubbed by Karat.

When Karat declared that Ansari was his only candidate and the ball was in Congress court, his implied threat was too obvious to miss. A senior Congress leader had to admit on Friday afternoon, hours before the candidate was officially announced: “This is not an issue on which we can let the government fall.”

There were two unstated political considerations the Left had while scouting for a name. The first: the candidate should be a Muslim. After opposing A P J Abdul Kalam for a second term in Rashtrapati Bhawan, the party calculated that sponsoring a Muslim name was necessary given the substantial community votes that sustain it both in Kerala and West Bengal.

The second: the candidate should symbolize a political position on some key issue echoing that of the Left. On Thursday evening, at a meeting of Left partners, two names were shortlisted: Hamid Ansari and Justice Jeevan Reddy.

Among Ansari’s qualifications, according to a Left source privy to the negotiations, was not just being a Muslim but that his views echoed those of Karat vis a vis the US — on the vote against Iran at the IAEA and the Middle East. In a signed article, Ansari slammed India’s decision on the vote asking: “Was it necessary for us to become a surrogate’s surrogate? How often would we be asked to take the fidelity test?”

Reddy’s name was to be taken up only if Congress vehemently vetoed Ansari. His qualification was his recommendation, as chairman of a committee appointed by the prime minister, to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

These political calculations apart, the selection of Ansari was driven by the sense of personal hurt that Karat acquired, during talks that selected Pratibha Patil as the Presidential candidate.

Karat is said to have watched surprised as CPI’s D Raja and A B Bardhan praised Patil’s credentials once her name was suggested by the Prime Minister. DMK chief Karunanidhi and RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav had already been won over by the Congress leaving Karat in a curious position: he had vetoed several Congress names but didn’t have a say in the selection of the actual presidential candidate.

When it came to the vice president, therefore, Karat decided to assert himself. He was furious when a Congress minister commented that “it is now the time of the Left to act and for us to react.”

The Congress leader’s reported statement said his party would veto the Left’s vice presidential nominee the way the Left went about vetoing Congress nominees for president. “We would never allow the Congress do to us what we do to them,” a Left ideologue is candid and categorical. Ansari’s name came onto Karat’s radar thanks to a common friend who would also intervene later to neturalise the DMK in the negotiations.

Karat latched on to it making it a prestige issue. “We told the Congress there is only one name and if they did not want it, tell us why,” said a Left source.

The Congress, unlike the Left, does not give structured reasons for their actions and inaction and was unwilling to cite reasons for opposing Ansari. But the party was keen that the Left propose Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s name for Vice-President. It would have helped the Congress get its own man as Speaker and the party was worried about the management of the upper house by a legislative novice.

As late as Thursday evening, top party sources were clear that “some legislative experience is necessary” for the vice presidential candidate. (Soon after the announcement they changed their tone though. “When Balram Jakhar became Speaker his only experience was of being a junior minister in Haryana. There have been vice presidents before who did not come with any legislative experience,” a member of the Congress core committee said.)

However, the Congress did not want to directly confront the CPM. It fielded Lalu, its friend in need. On Thursday, when polling was on for the President, Lalu came out of a meeting with senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmad Patel and declared that “his party being the biggest after the Congress in UPA,” would “have some claims to make.” While that was mere posturing, he spoke to Karat and opposed the idea of a bureaucrat for the post. “Search in your own home,” he is said to have suggested to Karat, alluding to Chatterjee. Karat knew the origin of this suggestion and curtly told Lalu he knew how to run his party.

Ansari on India’s Iran vote: Did we have to be a surrogate’s surrogate?

On India’s vote against Iran at the IAEA: “How and at what stage did India get involved in carrying messages? Were we approached; if so, by whom and for what purpose?...What did we hope to gain from it? Did we calculate the implications of a failure for Indo-Iranian relationship?..The crude game for domination was played by US with the EU acting as an American surrogate. Was it necessary for us to become a surrogate’s surrogate? How often would we be asked to take the fidelity test?” Outlook, October, 2005