In the Vice Presidential polls, the main contest will be between UPA nominee Mohammad Hamid Ansari and his NDA counterpart Mr Jaswant Singh. The nomination papers of Mr Ansari and Mr Singh were accepted during scrutiny on Saturday.

The Returning Officer for the Vice Presidential election and Secretary General of Lok Sabha Mr T K Viswanathan told reporters after the scrutiny that a total of 42 papers were filed by 31 candidates during the 14-day nomination process.

He said four sets of papers submitted by Mr Ansari and three sets by Mr Singh were accepted. The nomination papers of 29 others were rejected on various grounds for failing to meet the requirements.

AIR correspondent reports that UPA candidate Mr Ansari filed his papers on 18th of this month while NDA candidate Mr Singh filed his papers yesterday, the last day for filing of nomination.

The last day for withdrawal of nominations is 23rd. The Vice-President is elected through a direct ballot by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members including nominated members comprising the electoral college.

A total of 790 MPs are eligible to cast their vote on August 7th to elect the 14th Vice President of the country.