New Delhi, June 14
The “cricket” match for selecting the UPA presidential nominee had all the drama, with political parties experiencing highs and lows. At the end of the day, the match ended in a tie, but the day was carried over the pressure group of Left parties, NCP, DMK, and the RJD.
Faced with strong opposition from the Left parties and UPA allies to the candidature of home minister Shivraj Patil and power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today placed her trump card on the table by proposing Pratibha Devisingh Patil, present Governor of Rajasthan, as the coalition’s nominee.
The fielding of the woman candidate on the historic occasion of the 60th anniversary of India’s Independence found little resistance from the Congress-led coalition partners and outside supporters.
Pratibha Patil has emerged as a compromise candidate after the Left parties sternly opposed the candidature of Shivraj Patil and Shinde. The Left opposed Shivraj Patil for his “failure” to deliver as home minister and his alleged soft Hindutva approach. They opposed Shinde, as he had “failed” to tackle the communal strife in Maharashtra, when he was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The NCP, which had publicly stated it would support the Congress-proposed UPA candidate, was critical of both Shivraj Patil and Shinde and had campaigned with the Left parties and other UPA allies to derail such a move by the Congress.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi had come to the Capital to work out a compromise formula, as the differences within the UPA and allies had sent a wrong signal that they were threatened by the likely candidature of the NDA-supported nominee, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is expected to contest as Independent candidate.
In the hectic day-long political drama, it appears the Left leaders were successful in winning over the RJD leader Lalu Prasad to their side.
While NCP chief Sharad Pawar called on Left leaders last night, the communists huddled themselves with their own strategy meeting early in the morning and were off to meet the DMK chief for breakfast.
The talks remained inconclusive, but they had garnered enough support from the DMK chief to oppose Shivraj Patil and Shinde. Then they rushed to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi in the afternoon. It was at this moment that the Congress president, faced with strong opposition to Shivraj Patil and Shinde, proposed woman candidature for the post of president, which was acceptable to the
Left parties.
The Left parties have been saying that their ideal candidate would be a political personality with secular credentials well versed in the Constitution and its procedures.
To win over the DMK chief, Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel personally met Karunanidhi and RJD chief had one-to-one discussions with Prime Minister and Congress president.
Although the Congress failed to carry the day with its first choice of candidates, it had the satisfaction of finally having the consensus on a candidate proposed by its leader. But, the pressure group which the Left parties have succeeded in creating to oppose the Congress proposed names only indicate that the Manmohan Singh government in the coming days would face stiff opposition from within.
At the end of the day, the UPA coalition partners were unanimous in their view that Pratibha Patil was a consensus candidate, and not the best possible candidate they had planned to field. And, they appealed to all political parties and members of the Electoral College to extend support to her to elect her as the first woman President of the country.
