US vetoed Tharoor?

NEW DELHI: Amid speculation that Washington vetoed the chances of Shashi Tharoor, the Indian candidate for the post of UN Secretary General, the US on Friday declined to confirm or deny whether it cast the negative vote that saw Tharoor opting out of the race.

"We went through a judicious process for the selection of the next UN Secretary General. We have met and evaluated every candidate," US ambassador to India David C. Mulford told reporters at Roosevelt House.

"The consultations between the five permanent members generated a consensus," he replied when a reporter asked him whether the US cast the negative vote in the fourth and final straw poll held in New York on Monday.

"The process generated consensus in favour of one candidate which the Security Council will recommend to the UN secretary general," Mulford added.  

The guessing game may go on, but it will never become clear who cast the pink ballot suggesting a veto from a permanent member as the balloting was strictly secret. Some insiders have hinted that China could well have cast that decisive negative vote. 

Tharoor, the UN undersecretary general for public information and a novelist, bowed out of the race after garnering 10 votes in favour, three against, one of which was a veto from a permanent member, and two 'no opinions.'

The 62-year-old Ban Ki Moon of South Korea received 14 votes in favour and one 'no opinion' and no veto from a permanent member. If he wins, he will succeed the incumbent Kofi Annan when the latter's term expires Dec 31.

In South Block, the news of Tharoor's withdrawal from the race was received with disappointment, but officials praised Tharoor, the youngest candidate at 50 and a late entrant in the race, for his creditable performance and his exhaustive campaign to the world's leading capitals to muster support for his candidature.