New Delhi, June 14: Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil was today chosen the UPA-Left consensus nominee for the Presidential election after the Left parties vetoed the Congress' choice of Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

After two days of hectic consultations, the 72-year-old leader from Maharashtra emerged as the dark horse and was approved by leaders of the UPA-Left combine, including UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who met at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"It is a matter of pride and a historic moment in the 60th year of our republic," said Gandhi, apparently referring to the possibility of Patil becoming the country's first woman President.

"We will have to set up a coordination committee (to ensure her victory)," she said in the presence of UPA leaders, including the Prime Minister, DMK president M Karunanidhi, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and NCP president Sharad Pawar besides Left leaders Prakash Karat, Abani Roy and A B Bardhan.

Patil, married to Devi-singh Shekhawat, a Maharashtrian of Rajasthani descent, will most probably take on Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, also from Rajasthan, in the July 19 election.

The ruling coalition's choice came after feverish activities in the UPA camp, when the Left parties strongly rejected the Congress' first choice, Shivraj Patil, and insisted on the candidature of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee whom the Congress said was "indispensable" for the government.

As the parleys continued with the mediation of Karunanidhi, names of several other Congress leaders, including Karan Singh and Sushil Kumar Shinde, cropped up.

The Left is believed to have also opposed Karan Singh.

Patil, a former Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha and a Maharashtra minister, has been Governor of Rajasthan for nearly three years.

Sources said her name cropped up during a meeting between Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and the Left leaders, who had rejected Shivraj Patil, Karan Singh and Shinde.

When Pratibha Patil's candidature was mooted, the Left leaders immediately accepted it saying she was "non-controversial", the sources said.

Having secured the support of Mayawati's BSP and the DMK, the Congress was seeking the endorsement of Left parties for Shivraj Patil but could not succeed as they were unhappy with his functioning both as Lok Sabha Speaker in the 1990s and as Home Minister.

The UPA and its allies, including the Left parties and the BSP, are well placed in the Presidential poll with a total of 5,71,319 votes in the electoral college.

This is much higher than the combined strength of the BJP-led NDA, which has a total of 3,54,689 votes while unattached parties, including the AIADMK, Samajwadi Party and TDP, together account for 1,05,225 votes.

A qualified lawyer from Maharashtra, Patil has a wealth of experience as a politician and administrator, having held key positions in the Maharashtra unit of the Congress and ministerial portfolios before occupying the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson's post for about two years from November 1986.

Comment