India to elect a new president Thursday
The voting, marred by weeks of mudslinging involving candidates Pratibha Patil, 72, and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, 83, will begin at 10 a.m. in the parliament building for MPs and in state assemblies across the country for MLAs, the members of the state legislative assemblies. The exercise will end at 5 p.m.
Although 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs constitute the electoral college, the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) decision to keep away from the battle means the number of voters is going to come down.
The total value of the electoral college is calculated as 1.09 million votes. The value of an MP’s vote is 708 while that of an MLA’s varies on the basis of the population of a state.
The Election Commission, which conducts the once-in-five-years presidential election, has prepared Room 62 in parliament house for MPs to vote. Most MPs are already in the national capital.
Unlike in the general election, voters get to vote for more than one candidate – the first preference candidate and second preference candidate in this case.
They can write ‘1′ in the space opposite the name of the candidate they pick as their first choice. In addition, they can mark ‘2′ for the candidate of their second choice.
The votes will be counted on Saturday.
The campaigning has witnessed unprecedented mudslinging that everyone admits has already damaged the dignity and prestige of the country’s highest office.
Patil is the joint candidate of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is backing Vice President Shekhawat as an independent candidate but the NDA is already a house divided.
The ruling alliance combine has 631,464 votes against the NDA’s 314,411. The third grouping, UNPA, has 105,000 votes.
Although Patil’s victory is a foregone conclusion because of numbers, the BJP is still hoping for a miracle.
In any case, the traditional feel-good factor that accompany presidential elections has given way to charges of fraud, malpractices and improprieties that the two sides have flung at each other.
Although Patil, until recently the Rajasthan governor, and Shekhawat, one of India’s most experienced politicians, have themselves not indulged in any mudslinging, their supporters have spread venom against one another.
The BJP has even launched a website – knowpratibhapatil.com – to highlight what it says are the many shortcomings of Patil, whom it has accused of financial improprieties and shielding a brother who is facing murder charges.
The Congress has denounced Shekhawat for not quitting the post of vice president before entering the poll fray and raked up his past in a bid to dent his image.
One reason for Patil’s plight is that she was the last minute choice of the Congress and its allies after the Left parties that extend vital support to the government vetoed Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s first choices.
This is in sharp contrast to 2002 when Kalam, a missile scientist, was elected jointly by ruling and opposition parties with only the Left refusing to back him.
Kalam, who had an eventful five-year in Rashtrapati Bhavan, had expressed keenness for a second tenure when the UNPA pledged to support him. However, he withdrew from the race after the UPA and Left made it clear that they did not want to give him a second term.
The Indian president serves a mainly ceremonial role as the titular head of state. But he plays an important role if there is a political crisis triggered by a hung parliament.
The president also has the power to delay bills passed by parliament before they become law.
The new president will take charge July 25.
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