Protocols aside

It is the first time that a Prime Minister has signed the nomination paper as a second in a presidential poll. In all earlier elections, the PM is the first signatory in one set of nomination papers. But as the UPA pecking orders goes, Sonia Gandhi was the first, and the PM only the second proposer when UPA nominee Pratibha Patil filed her papers for the Rashtrapati Bhavan post. Another set of nominations has been signed by ministers and senior MPs. Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi who prepared the papers knew only too well who stands where. Sonia, who is normally very correct about protocol, let it pass this time.