Kaun Banega Next Prez

06-01-2007, 12:15 AM

QUOTEVice-President calls on Jyoti Basu
Kolkata: Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat called on CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu on Thursday. Shekhawat also met Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at her residence on Thursday evening. Asked by reporters after the 10-minute meeting between Shekhawat and Mamata if she discussed the coming presidential elections with Shekhawat, the TC chief said the issue did not figure.Â

ramana · 06-01-2007, 12:57 AM

The tradition in the coalition era is that the majority partner gets one post of the two and the other is left to the partners. And also a sort of N-S balance is tried.

And DMK is claiming this seat as it will lose its shirt in the H&D politics of TN.

It is important that INC doesnt get both posts as it does not have the electoral power.

Otherwise ithey will control everything and could lead to defacto Emergency in coming years if there is any instability.

06-01-2007, 10:19 PM

QUOTE(Mudy @ May 28 2007, 10:04 PM)The Final Vote - IBN-CNN
link
A P J Abdul Kalam 146749votes (43.05%)
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat 100712 votes (29.55%)Â

N R Narayana MurthyÂ 63571 votes (18.65%)Â
Somnath ChatterjeeÂ 11328 votes (3.32%)
Sushil Kumar ShindeÂ 7122 votes (2.09%)Â
Amitabh BachchanÂ 4925 votes (1.45%)
Pranab MukherjeeÂ 4490 votes (1.32%)
Karan SinghÂ 1955 votes (0.57%)

I fully agree, Karan Singh in bottom, I am suprised, Somnath was able to get 11328 votes, He is better with Karan along with Pranab.
Top two are good choice.

I voted couple of timesÂ <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' />
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Narayana Murthy? Hmmm....for a person, who felt foreigners would be embarrassed when the Indian national anthem is sung, to become a President? Little tough for me to digest. This is inspite of my view on national symbols, and do not get overly perturbed if an Indian does not have an innate respect towards them.

06-01-2007, 11:14 PM

Heard a rumor from Infy buddys that NarayanaMurthy was not that intrested in this president and stuff and want his well wishers stop going around with his name as prez. With his opinion falling in deaf ears, he did a deliberetly did the stupid which he know will be picked by the media and bascially make him misfit.

I don't know if this true, it was hearsay, but if its true his idea did work and seemed to work like a charm, nobody is much intrested on him after that episod and he is left alone.

06-02-2007, 01:25 AM

QUOTEShekhawat likely to be non-NDA prez candidate 
PTI | New Delhi
As part of its strategy to win support of anti-BJP parties for vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat for presidency, the NDA is believed to have decided to put him up as a nominee possibly of groupings outside the opposition alliance.

Reliable sources said Shekhawat's candidature for presidency could be proposed by any of the non-NDA, non-Congress parties.

They, however, discounted reports that the vice-president could enter the presidential fray as an independent candidate.

"I don't think he will fight it (the presidential election) as an independent. It is possible that his candidature might be proposed by the 'third front'... Non-BJP, non-Congress parties," a source said.

A senior NDA leader admitted that parties like the SP, which have a sizeable strength in the presidential electoral college.

"There is a consensus within the NDA over Shekhawat, but it would not name him as its own candidate, but would extend him support (as a non-NDA candidate)," he added.

Officially, the BJP too hinted that it would support Shekhawat as a non-NDA candidate as part of a strategy.

"As far as we are concerned, we will be happy to see a man of the stature of Shekhawat as president. However, the NDA has authorised its chairman (Vajpayee) to take a decision in this regard," said BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

06-02-2007, 03:43 AM

QUOTE(rhytha @ Jun 1 2007, 11:14 PM)Heard a rumor from Infy buddys that NarayanaMurthy was not that intrested in this president and stuff and want his well wishers stop going around with his name as prez. With his opinion falling in deaf ears, he did a deliberetly did the stupid which he know will be picked by the media and bascially make him misfit.

I don't know if this true, it was hearsay, but if its true his idea did work and seemed to work like a charm, nobody is much intrested on him after that episod and he is left alone.
[right][snapback]69650[/snapback][/right]


He has been running the show at Infy for quite sometime, and he would be adept at handling situations. If he had "really" wanted he could have done it differently.

06-02-2007, 08:33 PM

Too much to ask for a woman Prez?

ramana · 06-02-2007, 09:41 PM

rhytha, Thats a charitable way to recover H&D for N. If you recall he was at forefront of travel advisories etc during Parakram. No he is an internationalist.. Just because he is a successful business man does not mean he is suited for Head of State.

06-04-2007, 09:36 PM

Breaking news:Congress authorises Sonia to decide presidential candidate

06-06-2007, 03:20 AM

QUOTEGroup of Five may not back UPA candidate 
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
SP, TDP, ADMK, AGP, INLD likely to support independent Shekhawat

The Samajwadi Party-led group of five regional political parties is unlikely to back a Congress nominee for the top post. The leaders of SP, Telugu Desam Party, Indian National Lok Dal, AIADMK and AGP are meeting in Hyderabad on Wednesday where the issue of presidential poll will be discussed threadbare.Â

While the opinion among the G-5 leaders was so far divided on supporting a NDA-backed candidate either, there seems to be a complete convergence on not supporting a Congress nominee as successor to President APJ Abdul Kalam.

"There is no question of supporting a UPA candidate," said a senior leader of the G-5.

However, the G-5 leaders may opt to wait and watch and play their cards only when the UPA formally comes out with the name of the presidential candidate. No formal announcement on presidential poll is expected on Wednesday at Hyderabad.

Congress leaders have given up hopes of getting the support of G-5 leaders. The internal list of parties likely to support a Congress nominee did not include the names of SP, AIADMK, TDP, INLD and AGP, sources said.Â

06-06-2007, 03:23 AM

QUOTEBreaking news:Congress authorises Sonia to decide presidential candidate 

Now her choice
QUOTEShivraj Patil emerges Sonia's choice
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
After the Congress Working Committee authorised Sonia Gandhi to finalise the candidate, Home Minister Shivraj Patil is emerging as the front-runner in the presidential race.

According to party insiders, despite the rumour mill working overtime and springing up new names, the Congress chief may prefer a trusted man like Patil over someone like External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

With the DMK likely to press for fielding a backward caste candidate for Vice-President's post, the candidature of SK Shinde as Congress nominee for the presidential post has become doubtful. However, Shinde has all along been seen as the first choice of Sonia Gandhi.Â 

Queen is more interested to appoint her toady than a person who can protect India's constitution and be a good Commander.

06-06-2007, 03:37 AM

QUOTEprotect India's constitution 
<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' /> fine sense of humour you have Mudy. Shivraj Patil can't win a mayor's election in any town of his home state Maharashtra. And when he was a Union Home Minister (thanks to backdoor Rajya Sabha a la PM Singh), his home was broken into. Imagine Home Minister's home being broken into and burglars still at large! Imagine him protecting constitution.

My guess is that May 04 'inner voice' must have been a sound ringing noise in the ears after tight slap from Kalam - can be the only explanation for Sonia picking up an absolute nobody without any base even in his home state as Presidential candidate. Seems like Marxists have lost all leverage and have been 'left' behind.

06-07-2007, 10:17 PM

Democracy hijacked 
FranÃ§ois Gautier

Practitioners of cynical politics who are driven by the lust for power are destroying all that is good and true and valuable in India. Hindus are mocked at and persecuted while Government is busy devising ways and means of dividing the nation along caste and communal lines

India prides itself as the greatest democracy in the world. But actually, there are very few places where democracy has been so hijacked and perverted. Nothing demonstrates this better than the manoeuvring going on at the moment to find India's next President.

President APJ Abdul Kalam must be the most popular President in the history of India. Yet he will not be re-elected, because he was the people's President and not a stooge of political parties.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will never forgive him, as he was the one who stopped her from becoming Prime Minister when he told her in the privacy of his chambers that it was unconstitutional to hold two passports - Indian and Italian - as she did for many years (she is not the only foreigner who did so after obtaining Indian citizenship).

Quite a few Muslims regard him suspiciously because, although he is a true Muslim, he respects other religions and is known to keep the Bhagvad Gita and Sri Aurobindo's Savitri in his study. Thus Mayawati, partly elected by Muslims votes, will keep away from him. And the BJP is wary of Kalam because he did not always do its bidding.

How else is democracy perverted in India?

Well, here you have a party, the Congress, which has been going from bad to worse in the last 15 years, came a miserable last in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, and sprung to power at the Centre by a freak accident because the TDP lost in Andhra Pradesh and the Marxists did well in West Bengal.

Yet, the Congress is all powerful at the moment and is dividing India more and more along caste and religion lines, thanks to a cynical reservation policy - witness the recent strife in Rajasthan.

You have a foreigner who, whatever her qualities -honesty, hard work, family values - is just an elected MP, like hundreds of others, and yet rules as the supreme leader of this country, one whose word can make or unmake anybody. Do you think it would be possible for an Indian to become a de facto President or Prime Minister in the US, France or Germany? Absolutely not!

Even India's Prime Minister, a decent but weak man, is not elected: He was defeated the last time he contested an election and is now a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, where he has no roots at all.

Democracy in India has also been hijacked by cynical mathematics: How to get elected with the votes of the Muslims; who remain the most backward community in India, in spite of having brought to power umpteen Congress Governments since Independence; and how to manipulate the Dalits, who have had a fair share of benefits and have had one of them as President and many of whom are politicians in power.

Ms Mayawati has become a master of cynical mathematics: Muslims + Dalits + Brahmin votes = Absolute majority. Yet, will she do more for the Muslims and the poor of Uttar Pradesh than she did in her three previous stints as Chief Minister?

It seems doubtful, the way she has started, wasting hundreds of crores by scrapping all previous projects, including the Special Economic Zones and transferring hundreds of officials.

In the name of freedom of expression, Indian intellectuals defend people like MF Husain, who denigrates Durga, India's most holy goddess. Would he dare depict Mohammed's wife in this manner? Certainly not!

When the Prophet is caricatured by a Danish newspaper - harmless lampooning compared to Husain's derogatory portrayal of Durga - the entire Muslim world erupts in flames. Had Husain defiled Islam's icons, he would have been dead today.

Did India's 'free' Press ever care to show on TV or publish in magazines and newspapers Husain's derogatory paintings? Yet, they are freely available and have been reproduced in a coffee table book sponsored by Tata Steel with a foreword by Russi Modi.

India's judiciary is stretched to the limits by clever lawyers getting their rich clients off the hook, thanks to judges who go by the book without adapting their judgements to the Indian context, or by bribing witnesses as has been allegedly done in the BMW case. But poor people go to jail and it takes seven years to get a case cleared.

India's socialist system, which is still enforced, pretends to tax the rich to subsidise the poor. But in reality, the rich have smart chartered accountants who twist the law, while the less fortunate have to pay taxes on small savings and salaries. And, of course, most of this money never reaches the destitute.

Finally, here you have a country of 850 million Hindus, a billion worldwide, one of the most tolerant, law-abiding communities in the world. Yet, Hindus in India are made fun of and their beliefs riled at. They are persecuted, as the four lakh Kashmiri Pandits have been, without raising finger in defence - their men hanged, women raped, children disembowelled. They have become refugees in their own country and the media is mostly silent.

Yes democracy is needed, and a free and democratic India definitely has (in the long run) an advantage on an undemocratic China. But the way things are going now, India seems on the verge of losing all that is good and true and valuable within the nation, thanks to cynical and self-serving politicians.

Cry O my Beloved India. Look at what Thy children are doing to Thee.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=1

ramana · (This post was last modified: 06-10-2007, 05:28 AM by ramana.)

Deccan Chronicle, 10 june 2007
QUOTEPast Forward
Byline By M.J. Akbar

On the morning of the results of the elections for President of India in 1969, Mrs Indira Gandhi had two speeches ready, one to be delivered in case her candidate, Varahagiri Venkata Giri, won, and the other to be delivered in case he lost.

The second was a resignation speech. But Giri won, thanks to about 10,000 second preference votes cast in his favour by a barely-remembered politician, Chaudhry Charan Singh, who became Prime Minister in 1979 with Mrs Gandhiâs help and lost his job without ever facing Parliament when Mrs Gandhi withdrew support within a matter of weeks.

Giriâs victory in 1969 launched the Indira Gandhi era in Indian politics. Before that she was her fatherâs daughter; after that she became the head of a family that has given us at least one other Prime Minister and remains in politics in an effort to provide more. It is likely of course that Indira Gandhi would have called for early elections in 1969 and might have pulled off the kind of victory she did in 1971, but not probable. She used the authority she derived from the victory in the Presidential elections to offer the country a new legislative, left-leaning programme, and it was this that caught the imagination of the poor and enabled her to base her 1971 campaign on the remarkable, and undefeatable slogan: "Woh kahte hain mujhe hatao, main kahti hoon Garibi Hatao (They say, remove me; I say, Remove Poverty)".


Without a spate of decisions like bank nationalisation and the abolition of princely privileges, this claim would have been unsustainable. Indira Gandhi broke the mould of politics as usual.

Does this mean that a government that cannot ensure the victory of its candidate in the election to the office of President must resign? No. More specifically, Dr Manmohan Singh will be under no compulsion to resign if the Congress candidate does not, by some mischance, become President of India in July.

Mrs Indira Gandhi was vulnerable only because she had taken a risk so volatile that it amounted to a gamble with her political future. She had split the Congress after the announcement of an official Congress candidate and set up her own nominee, V.V. Giri, as an independent. Giri wasnât much of an independent; he was completely dependent on Mrs Gandhi, but that takes us to another story. The culture of the Presidentâs office shifted subtly but sharply; Presidents became personally beholden to their benefactors.

The Prime Minister of India is in office through the will of only the Lok Sabha, whose members are directly elected by voters. A government does not need a majority in the Rajya Sabha, whose members are elected indirectly, to survive. The electorate for a Presidential poll extends not only to the Rajya Sabha but also the Assemblies in the states, which have no part to play in the creation of a Union government. The President has a diffused constituency, relevant to the diffused nature of his responsibilities. The Prime Minister has a specific constituency and he lives or dies by the will of just the Lok Sabha. A Prime Ministerâs majority could be on a totally different trajectory from the Presidentâs.

In fact, this is the emerging scenario of the next few years. Power at the Centre will have little relation to power in the States. At one point, the Congress ruled 15 states while the NDA was in office at the Centre; within three years of reaching Delhi, the Congress has been reduced to Andhra, Assam, Haryana, Delhi and a bubble called Goa.

There is one simple message: Big Power politics is over in Indian democracy. Or, more accurately, it has been suspended until the Small Powers self-destruct, which may take a while. Decisions will have to be made through consultation and cooperation, rather than imposition.

However, despite being honed down to a Medium Power the Congress still cannot quite get out of the Big Power mentality, whether in government or as a party. We have just witnessed the faintly ridiculous sight of the Manmohan Singh government describing India as a Big Power, and dictating to Sri Lanka the policies it would prefer a "Small Power" to adopt. This is not the language of strength. It is the language a government uses when power has gone to its head, affecting it with cerebral malaria.

The Congress cannot take the Big Power approach towards partners in government either. Patronage is not the best way to protect a long-term relationship and an ego massage provides only very temporary relief from the headaches of co-existence. But if the Congress is tempted to insist upon a preferred party nominee, rather than a compromise consensus, for the next President, then there are good reasons.

The first, and most important, lies in the nature of the office. The President of India has, by the standards of Delhi, a sedentary job. His general requirement is to be nice, which, one may add, not all Presidents manage. But at crucial moments on the political calendar, he has to rise above partisan concerns and protect the letter and spirit of the Constitution. Very often, it is the spirit that determines what the interpretation of the letter should be. The most important of these moments for the next President will come after the next general elections, when the new government will be patched out of post-result alliances. It will lie in the Presidentâs will to give the first option on the basis of whichever standard he selects. It could be on the basis of the largest single party, or the largest bloc: the choice will be his.

The Congress is not buying the consensus-candidate bait for the very good reason that the consensus that is holding up the UPA will break down before the general elections. The Left, for instance, and the Congress will not have an electoral alliance. The Congress would prefer a President, therefore, who would be more sympathetic to its needs than to the interests of the Left Front after the results.


All political parties are, logically, playing the long game. This Presidential election is not about the politics of 2007, but about the potential formations of 2008 and 2009. If the Congress bends today, it might not be able to stand up next year. That is the thinking that has made Shivraj Patil the most likely candidate of the ruling coalition. Those who doubt his ability to win will hear a threat: the failure to elect Patil might bring down the government, and eliminate nearly two years of ministerial joy. That is not strictly necessary, at least according to the Constitutional fine print. If there is any erosion in moral authority, it will not trouble anyoneâs sleep. Political advantage, or necessity, is the glue that keeps a coalition together. No President, of any hue, would dare challenge a majority in the Lok Sabha.

There has been only one election for President that has shaped the future; every other President was elected without fuss, because he was a creature of the present, and represented the will of a consolidated establishment. The establishment was cracked open by Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1969, and out of that split emerged President Giri. Comparisons are never exact, but this much is evident: the Centre is not holding in 2007. This too has become an election about the future.

Get ready to count those second preference votes.


and

QUOTEIs Maya looking at the Third Front?
By Cool Breeze

Sachin found immature by party

The Congress high command is very upset with the immaturity shown by Sachin Pilot during the Gujjar unrest in Rajasthan. He has been directed not to make any statement without clearing it with the leadership. Senior leaders including Ashok Gehlot have brought to the notice of the leadership the role played by Pilot during the unrest. Dausa which is the bastion of the Pilot family, has been reserved for tribals in the new delimitation exercise. Observers suspect this is the reason why Pilot instigated the Gujjarsâ sudden and violent demand for ST status.

How Congress saved face in Goa

The Goa Assembly results came as a much required boost for the sagging morale of the Congress leadership. Despite the breakaway group led by Churchill Alemao and other rebels, the Congress managed to put up a good show. Mabel Rebello proved to the central leadership what an objective outsider could do without getting too deep into the inter-group squabbles. It was wise of Ahmed Patel to have sent Rebello to Goa, at a time when Margaret Alva was getting pulled into the factional fights in the state. The Congress can do well with some discipline in every state. Gujarat goes to the polls in December this year followed by Himachal in February.


Another front in the making

Mayawati is said to be in touch with Chandrababu Naidu, J. Jayalalithaa, Nitish Kumar and Bhajan Lal for reasons that can only be known before the next parliamentary elections. Her eyes now set on Delhi, the iron lady of Uttar Pradesh has sent preliminary feelers to each of these strong leaders from different parts of the country. Congress watchers are not too sure if the Congress will be able to sabotage these efforts. If these leaders join hands with the Left and the NCP, the Congress is in for trouble.

To support or not to support...

Senior Congress leaders are having sleepless nights as the presidential polls approach closer. The NCP is sending confusing signals about supporting Shivraj Patil. NCP spokesman D.P. Tripathi expressed his opposition to Patil to one channel and support for him to another in off-the-record briefings. His irresponsible approach upset the Congress as one of the two channels decided to run the story saying that NCP was opposing Patil. Senior NCP leaders chastised Tripathi and senior editors of the channel lambasted the reporter for carrying un-attributed stories.

Everybody wants Patil out of home

Shivraj Patilâs name appears to have been finalised for the post of President, give and take a few hitches here and there. Congress ministers are very keen to see him out of South Block. Names of leaders who can replace Patil are already being discussed. Pranab Mukherjee is keen on a change of portfolio for himself, but the Left is unwilling to have him as home minister. Sushil Kumar Shinde too is an aspirant, but too many controversies surround his name. Motilal Vora is also very keen to occupy the high office, but is considered a weak choice.Â A surprising name doing the rounds is that of Digvijay Singh, who will have to be brought into the Rajya Sabha on the seat vacated by Patil if made minister.


Wonder if NDA puts Shekawat as independent it would be close race and turn the tables on UPA.

can some one do the math?

Shekawat- NDA+Third Front

Patil-UPA + Left+ BSP

ramana · 06-10-2007, 06:01 AM

New update form Pioneer, June 10, 2007

QUOTE Prez names for today: Vora & a dark horse

Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi

The fierce opposition by the Left and NCP to Home Minister Shivraj Patil's candidature as UPA Presidential nominee has revived the confusion in the ruling alliance amid indications that in case of a showdown between the Congress and its allies, AICC treasurer Motilal Vora could spring back into the reckoning. A 'dark horse' can also not be ruled out.

If it is going to be a choice between Patil and Vora, the Left and the NCP would rather accept the latter, NCP sources said.

The Left and NCP leaders have already conveyed their objections to the Congress about Patil's candidature. They are expected to take a unified stand on the issue after CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat returns to Delhi on Monday night.

While the NCP and CPI are ready to go to any extent to stall Patil's candidature, much will depend on the stand taken by the CPI(M). If the CPI(M) refuses to succumb to Congress pressure, party president Sonia Gandhi may have to come up with new names. Since Patil is Sonia's personal choice and the Congress has maintained that the allies cannot dictate terms on the name of the candidate, the week ahead could see serious a serious rift in the UPA over the issue. ?

By drafting Vora along with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the team to develop a consensus among the UPA allies on the name of Patil, the Congress tried to signal to the allies that these two aspirants were formally out of the presidential race.

The Left and NCP leaders ask that if they could accept Congress' reluctance to back someone like Mukherjee, why should the Congress expect them to support a person who was not acceptable to them? "We still feel Mukherjee is the best person for the post of President. If the Congress agrees on his name, there will be no problem," a Left leader said.

At the same time, the Left and NCP leaders are not willing to accept the Congress' assertion that nominating the Presidential candidate is its sole prerogative.

"The Congress should change its mindset. "They can't treat their allies like domestic servants," a senior UPA leader said, adding that "we are not contesting that the President's post should go to the Congress, but the party can't thrust any Tom, Dick or Harry on us."

Even though the Left and the NCP are ready to accept Vora, the Congress leadership feels that he does not fit the bill on two counts: He lacks sophistication and is not anglicised. Sources said, the Congress does not feel that Vora can handle such a high-level assignment which would require an interaction with top foreign dignitaries.

However, the Left and NCP camps think this is a ruse to install a puppet President who can dance to the Congress tune. The allies feel that the role of the President would be crucial in the next General Election where a fractured verdict is not being ruled out.

Hence, they say they cannot risk supporting a man being propped up for his unquestionable " loyalty" to 10 Janpath.

Though Vora, too, is a Sonia loyalist, he may suit NCP chief Sharad Pawar who has reason to feel that elevating Patil as President is a Congress design to cut down his (Pawar's) political size in Maharashtra.

Even though the Congress leaders have been pointing out that Pawar has always succumbed to pressure in the past, the Left stand is cause for serious concern for them.

The Left leaders have opposed Patil's name because they suspect his secular credentials and doubt his administrative capability, which is crucial for a coalition regime.

Sources said that it was not the NCP but the Left which has questioned Patil's silence at the time of the installation of the Veer Savarkar statue in Parliament in 2003.

Patil had attended a meeting convened by the then Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi in 2002 where the decision of erecting Savarkar's statue was taken.

While the NCP does not want to rake up the Savarkar issue because of its repercussions on Maharashtra politics, the Left is determined to use this to paint him with a " saffron" brush.

06-10-2007, 08:25 AM

QUOTE(ramana @ Jun 9 2007, 07:58 PM)Deccan Chronicle, 10 june 2007
Wonder if NDA puts Shekawat as independent it would be close race and turn the tables on UPA.

can some one do the math?

Shekawat- NDA+Third Front

Patil-UPA + Left+ BSP
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from rediff.com

The NDA votes (3,54,689) consist of BJP (2,46,593), Janata Dal-United (24,313), SHS (21,590), Biju Janata Dal (19, 829), Janata Dal-Secular (11,938), Shiromani Akali Dal (12,728), Trinamool Congress (7,243), SDF (1,656), NPF (1,603), MNF (1,600), SJP (716) and National Conference (4,164).

The UPA's strength comprises INC (2,85,516), CPI-M (94,753), Rashtriya Janata Dal (30,822), Revolutionary Socialist Party/Forward Block (13,341), Nationalist Congress Party (24,007), Jharkhand Mukti Morch (6,452), Lok Jan Shakti Party (4,594), MUL (716), AIMIM (1,456), KEC (1,324), Republican Party of India (A) (716), ABLTC (208), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (29,898), Pattali Makkal Katchi (8,150), Telangana Rashtra Samiti (7,428) and People's Democratic Party (2,584).

The third front votes consist of AIADMK (19,328), Indian National Lok Dal (4,944), TDP (14,116), AGP (4,216), Samajwadi Party (59,757) and MDMK (3920).

and
Bahujan Samaj Party's vote share of 58,300

06-10-2007, 08:50 AM

If the first acts of the new president are to sign dismissal of Rajasthan and Gujarat govt, we know what to blame for this: BJP's selfishness and greed. By ditching a popular president and denying him the second term, BJP has ensured its defeat in the 2009 elections, which will have a Sonia slave as president and Navin chawla as CEC. If only sonia can get her crony appointed Supreme court chief, there will the no stopping the the jihadis, the missionaries and the pinkos. Kalam is an honest man who deserved a second term. If kalam had won, the country would have an impartial president. if Kalam had lost in the contest, BJP could have severely dented upa's image (not that there is much) and made upa's election chance vulnerable in 2009 elections. All that is now lost with shekawat's candidature. Now only hope for BJP is to hope for huge cross-voting in the presidential polls.

QUOTEPresidential poll: UPA has upper hand

June 09, 2007 17:55 IST

The newly-floated Third Front of some regional parties may have no adverse bearing on the outcome on the chances of the candidate of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance in the presidential election if one goes by the number in the electoral college.

In an electoral college of 10,98,882, the candidate backed by UPA could easily get over 5.70 lakh votes counting on Bahujan Samaj Party's vote share of 58,300 given the latest development in the Taj Corridor case.

The National Development Alliance candidate is expected to bag only 3,54,689 votes, given the strength of Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies. The unattached parties like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Telugu Desam Party, Assam Gana Parishad and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which recently floated the Third Front, carry a total of 1,06,281 votes.

Even if the votes of the newly-floated Third Front is counted with the NDA, it can garner only 4,60,970 votes, leaving it short by over one lakh votes as compared to the UPA candidate.

Though the eight-party grouping's Third Front is yet to decide as to whom it is going to support, an independent Bhairon Singh Shekhawat or a UPA candidate, there were clear indications from their leaders that they are not going to support a Congress or a BJP candidate for the top job.

While TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has ruled out supporting any BJP candidate, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh too has ruled out backing a Congress candidate.

However, Singh has clearly said they would be happy to vote for a Left parties' candidate for the post if they decided so.

The NDA votes (3,54,689) consist of BJP (2,46,593), Janata Dal-United (24,313), SHS (21,590), Biju Janata Dal (19, 829), Janata Dal-Secular (11,938), Shiromani Akali Dal (12,728), Trinamool Congress (7,243), SDF (1,656), NPF (1,603), MNF (1,600), SJP (716) and National Conference (4,164).

The UPA's strength comprises INC (2,85,516), CPI-M (94,753), Rashtriya Janata Dal (30,822), Revolutionary Socialist Party/Forward Block (13,341), Nationalist Congress Party (24,007), Jharkhand Mukti Morch (6,452), Lok Jan Shakti Party (4,594), MUL (716), AIMIM (1,456), KEC (1,324), Republican Party of India (A) (716), ABLTC (208), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (29,898), Pattali Makkal Katchi (8,150), Telangana Rashtra Samiti (7,428) and People's Democratic Party (2,584).

The third front votes consist of AIADMK (19,328), Indian National Lok Dal (4,944), TDP (14,116), AGP (4,216), Samajwadi Party (59,757) and MDMK (3920).

In the 2002 Presidential election, incumbent A P J Abdul Kalam secured 9,22,884 votes as against Lakshmi Sehgal, backed by Left parties, got merely 1,07,366 votes.

Â© Copyright 2007 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

06-11-2007, 08:31 PM

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http://www.jagran.com/news/details.aspx?id=3454351


BJP reject's MMS' appeal to NDA to support UPA presidential nominee. Naqvi said, there was no comparision to the process NDA had followed to elect Kalam which was through extensive consultations, and now when UPA was not even talking to opposition.

Shiv Sena rejects Patil's name. SS MP Sanjay Savat said SS is not going to support Shivraj Patil just because he is a Marathi. Someone who is responsible for delaying the death penalty to Afzal Guru is questionnable as a Prez candidate.

ramana · 06-13-2007, 08:26 PM

Rediff: Sonia's desperate gamble for President
QUOTESonia's desperate gamble for President
Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi
June 12, 2007
If you were here to see what all is going on in New Delhi over the election of the next President of India, it will make you feel more sick than even the sickening summer can make you feel.

Spare a thought for these four takes.

Just behind the posh Khan Market bazaar, Congress president Sonia Gandhi drove down to meet Mayawati for two full hours over dinner yesterday. The Mayawati fever is reaching ridiculous levels in Indian politics. The United Progressive Alliance wants to nominate a successor to President APJ Abdul Kalam. So the race to garner support is on.

Somewhat justifiably they think since the National Democratic Alliance last time proposed Kalam's name and the Opposition agreed to it, this time the UPA candidate should become President. But, there are a few hitches here. One, the difference of votes between the two political spectrums is very narrow. If at all it boils down to an election, then just around 60,000 votes can turn the tables which means cross-voting cannot be altogether ruled out. However, it's not so easy either with political opportunism well-defined, but it's said that the 'Thakur vote' and 'anti-Congress' vote within the UPA and its allies' MPs can create a stir.

Even if the UPA's candidate wins though after hurdles and glitches, then it will speak volumes about the mechanism of selection of a candidate for the grand post of President. So Gandhi, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the ruling alliance's candidate, is running from 10 Janpath to Humayun Road residence of Mayawati to ensure that no such shock comes her way.Â In the process, her meeting with Mayawati awkwardly exposes the pathetic position of the Congress party in spite of it holding power at the centre for three years.

Mayawati has 58,300 votes in the market and has already cornered terrific political mileage and some huge economic packages for her state because of it, plus a favourable outcome in the pending Taj Corridor case against her. 

Today she held a press conference, again in a five-star hotel, to make sure that she gets enough coverage about how the Bahujan Samaj Party is not only important in this Presidential election but its stance is also decisive for whoever wants to become President.

Railway Minister Lalu Yadav and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi have half her votes and Sharad Pawar has even less at 24,007. It must be galling for them to see 100-plus journalists eating five-star lunch at her expense.

Why is this election of president in 2007 looking so hot as it was in 1969? Because of the personality of Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who wants to be President.

People who know him understand that why Shekhawat could not be taken as an "also-ran".

Sharad Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party, Pranab Mukherjee of the Congress and Shekhawat, formerly of the BJP, are among few leaders in Indian politics who have deep political relations even outside their party. Shekhawat was in the BJP but was never known for his saffron shade of politics; his identity was of a Thakur leader and a politician who made great friendships. He is known for his great sense of humour and penchant for good life.
His life doesn't end with politics but goes beyond, to personal friendships.

On August 18, 2006, Sitaram Yechury, the vocal Left leader rose in the Rajya Sabha and told Shekhawat, chairman of the House, 'Sir, I have risen to wish you all the best for the future and to thank you.' Yes, the same Yechury, whose party and other Left parties are going to vote against Shekhawat if he decides to contest the Presidential election. Yechury added on that day, 'Sir, your conduct has been completely above board on all occasions. I think you have made a mark not only as the Chairman in this House, but asÂ an esteemed Vice President of our country for Indian democracy itself. I would cherish this contribution you have made for Indian democracy. And wish you many, many years of such contribution for sake of India's future.' 

Notwithstanding Yechury's words, the Left will go with the UPA candidate without much fuss and tamasha, as witnessed in the case of Mayawati.

Today, Prakash Karat said the Communist Party of India-Marxist will take final decision tomorrow but there is hardly much to decide for the leftists because under no circumstances can they go with any candidate who is supported by the BJP, an office-bearer of the Congress points out.

The same day Amar Singh of the Samajwadi Party termed Shekhawat as the Ajatashatru (man without enemies) of Indian politics.

If the Samajwadi Party and Telugu Desam agree to back Shekhawat along with the BJP only then Shekhawat may think of contesting as an independent, paving the way for cross-voting by those MPs who may like to vote as per their "inner voice." And not as per party line. Shekhavat had attracted cross-voting when he became Vice president,also.

Last month, as the countdown had just begun, the 80-plus Shekhawat, looking handsome in his white dhoti and kameez, told a visitor, "Beti, in Indian politics one month is a long, long time. You never know what all is possible before the actual date of election arrives." He refused to talk about his candidature or his inclination, but his visit to Jyoti Basu in Kolkata revealed that Shekhawat is serious and would like to test the ground before taking a decision to plunge or not to plunge.

Shivraj Patil is emerging as the likely candidate of Gandhi to succeed Kalam, though it is bruited about today that the Left is really not keen on him. However, if he really reaches that imperial palace of the colonial era on Raisina Hill, the actual loser will be Sonia Gandhi, says a senior journalist who has reported on the Gandhi family since 30 years. For it will establish the fact that Sonia Gandhi is still not confident enough as a statesman to lead the country without prejudices towards her party men who have better intellectual capacity to contribute in building and running the nation.
That Pranab Mukherjee would have been a better choice than Patil is not even worth mentioning or debating over. But, Sonia Gandhi never fully trusted Pranabda who once indicated, after the death of Rajiv Gandhi, that in keeping with tradition, the party's senior-most leader should have got the top job.

Sonia preferred P V Narasimha Rao for other reasons.

Recently, when the search for the UPA candidate began after initial speculation, Mukherjee's name cropped up. The Left supported the idea publicly and Pranabda, according to sources, didn't turn down the idea either. But, it's a well known fact that in Congress the most important criteria for getting power is loyalty to the Gandhi family. By turning down Mukherjee for the President's post, Sonia Gandhi may be heading to impose a flop home minister, and quite a lacklustre man who changes clothes three times a day, as the next President.

The interplay of personal loyalty factor within the Congress has cast its shadow outside the party and up to Rashtrapati Bhavan. But then, who knows? Even a day is a long time in politics. Let us wait for Madame Gandhi's final, final decision.

06-14-2007, 08:24 AM

QUOTEÂ Sonia shows Left its place
Santanu Banerjee | New Delhi
Finalises name with Maya, leaves Comrades in lurch
The Left-Congress relations on Wednesday entered another phase of bitterness with Sonia Gandhi not making any overtures to the Left parties on the issue of finalising the name of UPA's presidential candidate.

According to Left sources, no formal intimation came from 10 Janpath till Wednesday evening and an annoyed top Left Front leader told The Pioneer that "it appears that the Congress wants to finalise the name in consultation with UPA allies minus the Left." Â

Ironically though, both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi began their parleys on the issue with the Left leaders first, on May 10.

The Congress' plan to isolate the Left became apparent when even Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader M Karunanidhi reportedly conveyed to one of the Left leaders that "as far as Pranab Mukherjee is concerned, Sonia Gandhi wouldn't change her mind." 

Karunanidhi who arrived in Delhi on Wednesday, drove to 7 Race Course Road and held talks with Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. The DMK supremo tonight inducted a new element saying two-three names were under discussion for UPA nominee..His advocacy for a strong UPA candidate is in line with the Left stand that Shivraj Patil is a weak candidate.

Incidentally, what has miffed the Left leaders most is Sonia Gandhi having finalised the name of the candidate with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP leader Mayawati while keeping the Left in the dark.

"It is shocking that Mayawati announces that a consensus has been arrived at between her and Sonia Gandhi on the presidential candidate when we have still not been formally informed of the Congress chief's choice," said a senior Left leader.

Upset over the Congress president's marginalising them, the Left leaders have started a dialogue with other UPA allies, including RJD and NCP. RJD chief Lalu Prasad and NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday called on CPI general secretary AB Bardhan to discuss the stalemate.

Left sources claimed that both these leaders did not disagree with Left position on presidential candidate, but found themselves helpless in persuading the Congress chief not to push for Shivraj Patil's candidature.

"It is strange that the Congress bigwigs would come with names of heavyweights, like Pranab Mukherjee, but would go back on it when we supported his candidature," a top Left leader said.

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