Pratibha Patil, the UPA-Left candidate for the Presidential election, has the numbers solidly behind her but two opposition groupings, the NDA and the recently floated eight-party United National Progressive Alliance, are in no hurry to either give in or give up. Although they are aware that defeating the UPA-Left candidate is a very, very long shot, if not exactly impossible (see box), both are working actively to discredit the UPA’s choice as “political and partisan” and, therefore, hope to embarrass its leadership. So while the NDA, as expected, announced today that it would back Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as its “independent” candidate, ADMK leader Jayalalithaa, after a meeting of her eight-party front — including Mulayam Singh, Chandrababu Naidu and Om Prakash Chautala — came up with a surprise choice: current President A P J Abdul Kalam. Calling Kalam the “people’s choice,” and the “only person who commands the respect of all political parties and all sections of society,” Jayalalithaa said that the UNPA would persuade him to contest “in the interest of the nation.” In the same breath, to sharpen and highlight the contrast, Jayalalithaa slammed the UPA’s choice: Pratibha Patil, she said, was “a joke played on the nation by Sonia Gandhi,” she did not have “that kind of stature” to become President of India and “was no comparison to Kalam”. Asked if the UNPA had a back-up candidate in case Kalam turned down its request, Jayalalithaa said that would depend on his response. As if in tandem, hours later, even Shekhawat announced that he would be happy if there could be a consensus on Kalam. “Nothing would give me greater satisfaction than the President (Kalam) so consenting. For this, total unanimity of all parties is an imperative. I would be happy if that were achieved,” he said in a statement. That “total unanimity” is unlikely given that Congress leaders, who had a meeting with Sonia Gandhi tonight, said there is no question of withdrawing Patil’s candidature. Kalam, who is scheduled to meet the UNPA leaders on Wednesday, has also made it clear that he doesn’t wish to re-contest if there was no consensus and described the UPA’s choice of Patil as “fantastic.” Still, the NDA quickly seized on the announcement in Chennai to underline its opposition to the UPA choice and narrow its gap with the UNPA. “We wanted a second term for President Kalam and requested him to be a candidate,” said BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, after announcing the NDA’s choice. “But President Kalam told us that he would be interested only if the Congress proposes him on its own.Now it’s too late. The Congress and Left disapproved of Kalam and announced their candidate.” She then pointed out how the third front and the NDA had quite a lot in common. “We have similar opinion on the UPA candidate. We also share the opinion on Kalam, that he is the greatest inspiration of an entire generation of Indians. NDA had sponsored him as the presidential candidate last time and this time again we wanted to elect him as a consensus candidate,” Swaraj said. In its announcement, the NDA played up Shekhawat’s “lifetime experience of dedicated public service with rare qualities of head and heart.” A public figure of eminence, repute, “unmatched credentials,” the NDA statement also emphasized Shekhawat’s “impeccable secular credentials,” as among his qualifications for the top job. The Sena’s decision on supporting Shekhawat will be announced only tomorrow by supremo Bal Thackeray. A section of the Sena feels it should support UPA candidate Pratibha Patil who could become the first Indian president from Maharashtra. Pressure on UPA mental, not mathematical • Patil has a majority: of the total 10.98 lakh votes, the UPA-Left-BSP combine has 5.74 lakh — 24,803 votes above the half-way mark. • NDA (Shekhawat) has 3.56 lakh and UNPA (Kalam?) has 1.05 lakh votes; Others have 63,000 • If it’s Patil vs Shekhawat, Patil sails through • If it’s Patil vs Shekhawat vs Kalam, Patil still sails through • Patil could be in trouble only if she falls below the halfway mark, ie, she loses 24,803 votes: at least 36 MPs from her UPA-Left-BSP combine break away (or 120 MLAs from Uttar Pradesh, considering that their votes have the highest weightage) • But if this happens, Shekhawat could have a shot at the job — a long shot — only if all non-UPA voters who didn’t vote for him marked him as second-preference
