Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil emerged as Congress’s candidate for the Presidential polls after the party confirmed that the government cannot spare External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil emerged as Congress’s candidate for the Presidential polls after the party confirmed that the government cannot spare External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) at its meeting on Monday had authorised party chief Sonia Gandhi to choose the party’s candidate for the Presidential elections scheduled for July.
The issue was discussed on Tuesday evening at the meeting of the core group of the party comprising the Congress president, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, and Ahmad Patel.
A formal decision, however, will only be taken after a final round of discussion with all the allies and the Left parties. Pranab Mukherjee initially appeared to be the obvious choice and even had the backing of all the allies and supporting parties. But he appears to have lost out because of his indispensability to the government.
The other names that were under discussions were that of Motilal Vora, Arjun Singh and Karan Singh. Though Patil has emerged as the front runner, the Left parties and the DMK are said to have certain reservations about his candidature. The Left parties believe that he has not really distinguished himself in his stint as the Home Minister. In fact, there are many within the Congress party who also share the view, and many Congressmen are worried about his chances against Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
By all indications, the Vice President is a formidable candidate and has friends in almost all the political parties. The fear is that if the UPA puts up a weak candidate it might lead to cross voting in Shekhawat’s favour.
Meanwhile, Patil himself is giving little away. A well-known Sai Baba follower, some time back the Home Minister flew down to Puttaparthi to seek the godman’s blessings, besides visiting the famous Balaji Mandir at Tirupathi, last month.
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