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| World Home » Current Affairs » | Fri. Nov 21, 2008 |
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Presidential Race India: Patil vs Shekhawat MIL/Agencies/HT, Jun 13, 2007. New Delhi, June 13, 2007 (Wednesday) - The Election Commission of India has announced today that that the Presidential poll will be held on July 19, 2007 and the counting shall star from July 21. So far the official notification is concerned; it shall be issued on June 16. The last date for filing of nominations is fixed as June 30, scrutiny on July 2 and last date for withdrawal shall be July 4. Meanwhile, the race for the president’s post has political parties in the country in fury. While Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has announced that her party will support UPA candidate in the Presidential race and ruled out any possibility of supporting NDA’s choice, she has said her party will not side with the “communal forces.” Mayawati also said that her Monday night dinner with Congress President Sonia Gandhi had resulted in a consensus emerging on the Presidential candidate issue and that Sonia will announce the name soon. Meanwhile, Home Minister Shivraj Patil has emerged as the frontrunner after the Congress indicated that it would be difficult to de-engage Pranab Mukherjee from his role in the Government as the External Affairs Minister. The other strong contender for the post is Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. So far the BJP is concerned, it has made clear a few days ago that that Vice – President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the man who everyone thought, would be NDA's choice, as an independent candidate under the prevailing circumstances. DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi arrives in the Capital on Wednesday. "We will take a final decision on the strategy for the Presidential election after consultations with Chief Minister M Karunanidhi tomorrow and the other parties in the UPA coalition," said CPM general secretary Prakash Karat after a meeting with the leaders of the CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc. According to people close to him, Vice-President Shekhawat believes he stands a fair chance because of differences in the ruling front over who the presidential candidate should be. The sources said Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s reported preference for Shivraj Patil was not being backed entirely by the Left. Shekhawat met former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other NDA leaders on Tuesday to tell them he had decided to run. He also discussed his war plan with BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, LK Advani and Jaswant Singh, and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav. Here is how the numbers stack up. With Mayawati's announcement of support for the Congress candidate, the UPA's votes - including the Left's - go up to around 6 lakh. They only have to pick a name now. Congress president Sonia Gandhi put five names on the table at her dinner meeting with the BSP leader on Monday: Shivraj Patil, Union ministers Arjun Singh and Sushilkumar Shinde, deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Karan Singh and former Uttaranchal chief minister ND Tiwari. They settled on one name but Mayawati wouldn't tell. "Sonia Gandhi will announce the name," she told a crowded press conference before leaving for Lucknow.
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