Presidential Election : Pratibha Patil is UPA nominee,Indian Politics, News Analysis, India News Online

With the Congress and the Left parties not able to sort out their differences on the list of names proposed by the Congress for the UPA nominee for the position of President of India, a surprise choice came up on Thursday, June 14; Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Devisingh Patil is to be the UPA nominee for President, supported by the Left parties. The Congress had lobbied strongly for Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, but could not persuade the Left to give up its opposition to him on account of his alleged soft handling of saffronite forces, even after enlisting the services of DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanid¬hi to mediate on the issue. For almost 48 hours, in the national capital, there were intense confabulations to reach a consensus on the UPA nominee for the Presidentship, which ended with the emergence of Pratibha Patil’s name as the UPA nominee.

There were, however, smiles on everybody’s faces at the outcome when UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi announced the candida¬te’s name on Thursday evening at the Prime Minister’s Residence at 7, Race Course Road. Leaders of the UPA constituent parties and the Left were happy that a woman would become the country’s President in the 60th year of Independence.

Sonia Gandhi said, it would be a matter of great privilege for the country to have a woman President in the 60th year of Independence. “It is a matter of pride and a historic moment in the 60th year of our Republic.”

Her brief statement came in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Karunanidhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, and Left leaders, Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, A.B. Bardhan, D. Raja and Abani Roy.

The choice of Pratibha Patil won instant across-the-board support from the Left parties.

After their first choice - Pranab Mukherjee - was rejected by the Congress leadership on the ground that he could not be spared from the Government, the Left leaders shot down the candi¬dature of Shivraj Patil who, they thought, would prove unequal in a contest against Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

The impasse continued as the Congress leadership sought to enlist the support of other UPA constituents who agreed to back a UPA candidate without getting into discussing names.

Early on Thursday, Karat, Bardhan, and Raja called on Karunanidhi and conveyed to him that they were unwilling to accept the candidature of Shivraj Patil or Karan Singh, whose name was also suggested during informal meetings.

The turnaround came when Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi invited the Left leaders for consultations. At this meeting, the Left leaders reiterated that they could not agree to the nomina¬tion of either Shivraj Patil or Karan Singh. The Congress lead¬ership on its part did not mention the third name - Sushil Kumar Shinde.

The Left leaders then suggested two other names - Union Minister Arjun Singh and Congress treasurer Motilal Vora - but the Congress leadership felt that their health rendered them ineligible.

Raja suggested that they look for a woman candidate, an idea that was instantly picked up by Dr. Singh and agreed to by Sonia Gandhi, said sources privy to the discussions.

Dr. Singh then suggested the name of Pratibha Patil; Bardhan, who hails from Nagpur, at once accepted the proposal and even recounted the political career of both Pratibha Patil and her husband, a Rajput, and recalled that he had served as Mayor of Amravati.

The Left leaders suggested that the other UPA partners be taken on board immediately. Thereafter, Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, called on Karunanidhi at Tamil Nadu House to convey the new name. Between then and 6.30 p.m., everything else was lined up for a grand show of unity of the coalition and supporting partners.

Believer in Women’s causes

Small-town lawyer, minister, Governor and now President hopeful - Pratibha Patil has come a long way from a college table tennis champ.

If Pratibha Patil does win the race, the first woman Gover¬nor of Rajasthan would also be the first to break the male domi¬nance at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The “silent and low-profile” 72-year-old, a Rajput from Maharashtra, is an experienced politician and administrator.

Born in Jalgaon on December 19, 1934, Patil completed her MA at MJ College and went on to complete her LLB from Government Law College in Mumbai. During her college days, she was known as a champion table tennis player.

Patil practised as a lawyer in Jalgaon before taking the plunge into state politics in 1962, when she was elected to the Assembly from Jalgaon.

Three years later, in July 1965, she married Devi Singh Shekhawat, an educationist.

Patil remained an MLA till 1985. She became a deputy min¬ister in 1967. Always known as a staunch Gandhi family loyalist, she was elevated to a cabinet minister’s post in 1972.

In 1979, when Sharad Pawar broke away from his mentor, Chief Minister Vasantdada Patil, the former lawyer became leader of the Opposition for the Congress. She remained Opposition leader until February 1980.

Her stint in Parliament began in 1985, when she was elected to the Rajya Sabha. A little over a year later, she became deputy chairperson of the House.

In June 1988, Patil was appointed president of the Maharash¬tra State Congress Committee and held the job till December 1989. In 1991, she was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Amravati.

In November 2004, the Congress leadership made her the first woman Governor of Rajasthan.

A firm believer in women’s causes and a tireless champion of spreading education among girls, Pratibha Patil believes that education among women will enhance their respect and generate awareness of social causes.

As one who always stands for a better deal for women - she says this is essential for the progress of the nation - Pratibha Patil has played an active role in checking evils such as female foeticide and dowry.

In speeches at universities, colleges and schools in Rajas¬than over the past three years, she has spoken about these causes in an attempt to generate awareness among students so that they play constructive and positive roles in shaping the future of the country.

Thanks Sonia Gandhi, UPA

Immediately upon coming to know of the decision to put her up as the UPA nominee for the Presidentship, Pratibha Patil thanked Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, other UPA constituents and the Left parties for reposing faith in her. She said that she would work for removing disparities in society, if elected to the highest constitutinal post. Talking to journalists in Jaipur, Pratibha Patil said, “I feel proud. Selection of a woman candidate for the President’s post will send a good message not only to the countrymen, but also to the na¬tions in the neighbourhood.” Pratibha Patil said she respected Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, her likely opponent in the Presidential poll.

Stood by the Congress through thick and thin

Pratibha Patil has been a Congress loyalist who kept the party’s flag flying in the difficult post-emergency years when it briefly lost power in Maharashtra, and again in the 1980s when she was the Pradesh Congress president.

After the 1978 split in the Maharashtra Congress, when Sharad Pawar left the party to form the PDF Government, Pratibha Patil functioned as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly (1979-80). That was a bleak time for the Congress, but her reso¬lute loyalty won her the respect and support of Indira Gandhi. So much so, she even thought of making Pratibha Chief Minister when the party returned to power in 1980. But opposition within the Congress, partly from strongman Vasantdada Patil, killed that idea.

In the late 1980s, with the return of Pawar to the Congress and Chief Minister-ship, Rajiv Gandhi appointed Pratibha Patil PCC president. This was seen as a move to counter Pawar’s in¬fluence.

The era saw clashes between the two, including a public standoff at a party executive meeting in Aurangabad, widely reported at the time.

Can be tough, when need arises

Analysts say that Pratibha Patil is no push-over, and can act tough if the need arises. As Rajasthan Governor, she refused to sign the controversial Religious Freedom Bill despite its being passed by the State Assembly in 2006.

Pratibha Patil, after carefully reading the text of the Bill, decided to “keep it in abeyance.” Her decision had embar¬rassed the Vasundhra Raje BJP government despite the Chief Minister being a Scindia calling her Tai (elder aunt) and speak¬ing to her in Marathi.

During the recent Gujjar agitation, Pratibha Patil dashed to Delhi to brief the Union Home Minister about the developments in Rajasthan. She submitted a report to the Union Government based on information she gathered from ‘other’ sources.

Congress losing political clout ?

While Congressmen are hailing Pratibha Patil’s selection as the UPA nominee for the Presidentship as a victory for the party, calling it historic because a woman will occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan for the first time, observers see it as a sign of he party’s weakening clout within the UPA-Left combine. While party loyalists say that Pratibha Patil’s selection was a part of the party’s ‘women card’, analysts say that there is no wishing away the fact that the Left, with the tacit support of the UPA consti¬tuents, was able to make the Congress discard its first choice of Shivraj Patil and other names on the list.

They say it is a case of a numerically inferior, but politi¬cally daring group within the ruling side triumphing over the vote-rich but politically meek Congress leadership. In the Presidential electoral college of over 10 lakh votes, the Con¬gress is still the biggest component. With the support of the BSP in its kity, a deft handling of the situation would have changed the scenario in its favour.

Senior Left leaders, even while publicly holding out against the Congress choice, were privately conceding the inevitability of their having to grudgingly vote for Shivraj Patil. But the grand old party surprised them by blinking in the last round. What better political publicity could the Left have in its anti-Congress bases of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura than this nationally televised message of its bearding the Congress central leadership in its own den ? In striking contrast, the Congress, much to the glee of its principal rival, the BJP, is seen as a badly battered coalition leader.

The Left has been blocking all ambitious reform measures of the Manmohan Singh Government during the past three years. And it can be expected to become more belligerent in the remaining part of the UPA tenure.

Of course, it was the Congress leadership which proposed the name of Pratibha Patil who has the potential to become the first woman President. But what is denying the Congress the credit is the fact that her name was proposed only when the leadership found no one of its formally short-listed candidates acceptable to the Left.

Fight for Vice President’s post set to begin

With the dust having settled on the process of selection of the UPA’s nominee for the post of President, the battle for who will succeed Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as Vice President is begin¬ning. Some of the UPA constituents and the Left have given broad hints that they would like a non-Congress person to be put up for the post of Vice President. Shekhawat completes his five-year term as Vice President in August.

While the question of the selection of the nominee for the post of Vice President did not come up at the Thursday meeting where it was decided to nominate Pratibha Patil for the post of President, sources in New Delhi say that UPA allies have told the Congress that the party should not stake the claim for the post of Vice President. They say that the post should be given to an alliance partner.

Privately, some Left leaders have been quoted as saying that the Left as the second largest grouping within the combine should get the nomination for the Vice President’s post. They say they would prefer a non-Congress nominee and would come out with their views when the issue comes up for discussion within the next few weeks. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that it was too early to begin talks on the Vice Presidential election. “We have just finished finalising the Presidential nominee. The election for the Vice President’s post will come up later”, he said. There are reports that the DMK which played a key role in the negotiations for finalising the presidential nominee, is also eyeing the Vice President’s post.

Notification issued

The Election Commission on June 16 formally issued a notifi¬cation setting in motion the process for the July 19 Presidential Election. Filing of nominations will go on till June 30. Scru¬tiny will take place on July 2, while the last date for withdraw¬als is July 4. Voting, if necessary, will take place on July 19, while the counting will be on July 21.

Members of Parliament, numbering 776, including 543 from the Lok Sabha and 4120 MLAs from different states, are eligible to exercise their franchise. The total value of votes of he elector¬al college comes to a little over 10 lakh 98 thousand.

The term of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam ends on July 24 and the new President will assume office the next day.

Efforts on to muster support

With the Election Commission issuing the notification for the election of the President, both the UPA and the opposition NDA have stepped up their efforts to canvass support for their candidates. While the UPA has named Pratibha Patil as its can¬didate, the NDA has not yet formally announced its candidate, but in all likelihood is going to support Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who is planning to contest for the Presidency as an Independent.

The NDA has turned down overtures from the ruling UPA for supporting Pratibha Patil. Immediately after Pratibha Patil’s selection as the UPA nominee, both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approached veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee requesting a consensus on Pratibha Patil as President. Vajpayee said that it was too late to build a consensus. The Prime Minister got a similar response when he talked to senior BJP leader L.K. Advani on the issue. Advani said that the UPA was insincere on seeking consensus on Pratib¬ha Patil’s name.

Contest a certainty : BJP

Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said in New Delhi on June 16 that the UPA’s bid to arrive at a consensus was not made in the spirit of consensus. She said that a contest was a certainty as the NDA would formally declare its support for Bhairon Singh Shekhawat at its meeting today, June 18. Shekhawat will be contesting as an Independent.

Sushma Swaraj said Pratibha Patil was neither the first, nor the preferred and certainly not the natural choice of the ruling UPA. To a query on why the BJP could not support a woman can¬didate for President, she said that if the UPA was so keen on fielding a woman, why it did not consider the names of only woman candidates. Sushma Swaraj said that while Home Minister Shivraj Patil was the first choice of the Congress, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was preferred by the Left parties. She said that loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family appears to have been the sole criterion for selecting Pratibha Patil.

Shiv Sena divided on Presidential nominee

There are reports that the BJP’s oldest ally in the NDA, the Shiv Sena, is torn between supporting a Marathi personality - Pratibha Patil - in this case and the NDA choice Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. A meeting of the Shiv Sena working committee members and other party leaders in Mumbai on June 16 decided that party chief Bal Thackeray will decide the matter and announce the decision on June 19, the foundation day of the party.

While Shiv Sena leaders were tight-lipped about the meeting attended by senior party leaders and functionaries, the only thing they could share was that a call would be taken on Tues¬day.

Party spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that there was no split in the party on the issue and Thackeray was taking the opinion of leaders in the party’s working committee. Since he addresses the public on the party’s foundation day every year, he would make his comments then.

The Shiv Sena’s newspaper, Saamna, has said that it was not so opposed to Pratibha Patil’s candidature since she was from Maharashtra and also a woman. However, the party does not seem to have a unanimous stand on supporting her which is why the decision will be announced by Thackeray tomorrow, June 19.

The party’s alliance partner in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party, is not very happy at the turn of events. State BJP president Nitin Gadkari said the Sena should go with what the alliance and the NDA say. There should be no differences between the partners, he said.

The Sena has 12 MPs in the Lok Sabha and four in the Rajya Sabha apart from 55 MLAs.

Pratibha Patil meets key leaders

Reaching New Delhi for the first time after the UPA’s an¬nouncement of her candidature, Pratibha Patil said in the nation¬al capital on June 16 that her nomination was a big step for women. She called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav. She spoke on telephone to CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat who was in Kerala and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

In an interesting development, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat along with Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje called on Pratibha Patil at Jodhpur House where she is staying in New Delhi. Pratibha Patil had earlier sought an appointment with Shekhawat since she wanted to call on him. But she was apparent¬ly out foxed by Shekhawat who preempted the visit by calling on the UPA-Left nominee himself. Observers say that Shekhawat dodged what could have been an awkward situation if Pratibha Patil had played daughter-in-law (she is married to a Shekhawat) and played to the gallery.

Race for Third Front support

Both the UPA and the NDA are trying their best to get the support of constituents of the Third Front which was set up in Hyderabad earlier this month. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh in this connection on June 16. Earlier, the Prime Minister had spoken to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

On the other side, NDA convener George Fernandes met SP leaders to press Shekhawat’s case. The Third Front is meeting in Chennai today, June 18, where it will decide whether to support Shekhawat against Pratibha Patil or consider a candidate of its own to avert a minority backlash. Observers say if the Third Front is swayed by secular reasoning, and over one lakh votes of its eight constituent parties do not come Shekhawat’s way, he will be reduced to a non-starter.

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna DMK chief Jayalalithaa has said that the Third Front will not support a Congress candidate, whether a man or a woman, in any case. Talking to reporters in Chennai after a meeting of the AIADMK executive, she said the Third Front has an option of backing an existing candidate or fielding its own candidate, or abstaining from voting. Jayalalithaa said as far as the AIADMK is con¬cerned, the party has taken a firm stand not to support a Con¬gress candidate.

Do not encourage cross-voting to become President : CPI

CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan has said that there is no scope for cross-voting in the Presidential poll. Speaking after Pratibha Patil called on him at the party headquarters in New Delhi, he said, “We are one hundred per cent confident of win¬ning. Does he (Shekhawat) expect to become the President by encouraging cross-voting ?”

Union Labor Minister Oscar Fernandes has said that the UPA would approach all political parties to elicit support for Pra¬tibha Patil. Asked by newsmen if it would include reaching out to AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, he said, “At every door.”

Former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar has in the mean time issued an appeal to those in the electoral college to support Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s candidature.

Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal has also come out in Shekhawat’s support.

Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav said, “irrespective of who is the candidate, the NDA will vote together.”

Earlier during the week, BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on June 12, announced her party’s unequi¬vocal support to the UPA candidate in the presidential election. At a news conference after hosting a dinner for UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on June 11, Mayawati said her party always fought against communal forces and that was why there was no question of supporting an NDA candidate.

In other developments, DMK chief Karunanidhi arrived in New Delhi on June 13 to lend his hand in the quest for a UPA can¬didate.

In another significant development, External Affairs Min¬ister Pranab Mukherjee issued a statement on June 13 reiterating that the Congress leadership decides his role in the party and the Government and “there is no room for any further speculation in this matter.”

This was the second time Mukherjee issued a statement to the effect that his role was determined by the party leadership. The first clarification was on May 18 soon after reports that the Left parties were willing to endorse his candidature for the President’s post.

“I was the best candidate”, Karan Singh

Dr. Karan Singh, who lost the Presidency nomination to Pratibha Patil said on June 15, that he had been overlooked despite being “the best candidate” for the top job. Reports say that even the DMK had agreed to the name of the Kashmiri leader. But the move got stuck when the Left vetoed his name. Karan Singh paid a visit to DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi who was playing inter¬locutor in ending the stalemate. He sought to clear the cloud over his secular credentials and told reporters later that he had never been a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Asked the reason for his elimination from the contest, Dr. Karan Singh ascribed it to the compulsions of coalition politics. But he claimed that his party, the Congress, had fully backed him.

Karan Singh said, “the Communists are atheists and so were naturally opposed to my deep religious feelings. I always speak about Vedanta and that was bugging them. However, I am relieved, it is over. It is ten year since I have cropped up in every election and I am not going to contest ever again.

Women’s groups ask for 33 per cent quota

While the Congress has launched an aggressive campaign for Pratibha Patil with the focus on her prospect to be the first woman President of India, women’s groups, while welcoming her nomination, have expressed the hope that the UPA will introduce the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament in the same spirit.

A statement by the AICC said, “the UPA-Left decision to nominate Pratibha Patil for the highest post will send a highly encouraging signal not only to women in the country, but also to the international community that India is a country where women are taken seriously. This is not mere symbolism, but an indictor and that UPA allies are totally committed to the cause of women and their progress,” The AICC attacked the BJP for not agreeing to a consensus on Pratibha Patil’s candidature.

On the other hand, the All India Democratic Women’s Associa¬tion, in a statement in New Delhi on June 15 hoped that the ac¬ceptance of a woman as the constitutional head would create a larger appreciation of women’s contribution to public life. The National Federation of Indian Women, congratulating the UPA, the Left and other parties, on nominating Pratibha Patil, appealed to them to support the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Karunanidhi’s daughter may become a Union Minister

On the sidelines of his efforts to build a UPA consensus on the Presidential nominee, DMK chief Karunanidhi hinted in New Delhi on June 15 at the possibility of his daughter Kanimozhi becoming Union Minister following her election to the Rajya Sabha.

To a question whether Kanimozhi would be inducted into the Union Cabinet, now that he had succeeded in his efforts to nomi¬nate a woman for the post of Presidentship, he said, “We can do it “seyyalum, seyyalum.” He did not elaborate further.

Asked whether he would continue to undertake the same efforts in the choice of a candidate for the post of the Vice President, Karunanidhi said, “That decision is only in August. We will think over it and again sit together for talks and fina¬lise the candidate.” Asked whether anyone from Tamil Nadu would be suggested for Vice Presidentship. he said, “An Indian will become Vice President.”

After Thursday’s back-to-back meetings between the various UPA allies, Karunanidhi called on the Congress president in the evening with his daughter Kanimozhi, who had a 15-minute long introductory meeting with Sonia Gandhi, chatted with the Con¬gress leader and also thanked her for selecting a woman candidate for the President’s post.

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