Shekhawat loses big fight, quits as Vice President

New Delhi: Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat resigned on Saturday evening after he was defeated in the Presidential election.

Shekhawat said he accepted his defeat with "all humility". He said in a brief letter to the President: "I hereby tender my resignation from the post of Vice President of India and am extremely grateful to you for the cooperation and guidance that I have always got from you."

In a press statement, he said he would continue to "work

for the uplift of poor and deprived sections of the society so that they can enjoy their fundamental rights with dignity".

Shekhawat, who contested the election as an Independent candidate backed by the NDA, got 331,306 votes and was defeated by his UPA candidate Pratibha Patil who got 306,810 votes.

Shekhawat didn't get a single vote from Kerala, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. In his home state, Rajasthan, Shekhawat got 134 votes and Patil got 63.

Shekhawat got more votes in NDA-ruled states. In Bihar he got 145 to Patil's 89, in Chhattisgarh (51-37), Gujarat (123-57), Madhya Pradesh (163-56), Punjab (66-45) and Orissa (100-46).