By IANS
New Delhi : On the eve of the presidential election, ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee Pratibha Patil Wednesday received unexpected support from the National Conference, brightening her chances to become India's first woman president.
Even as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-backed independent candidate Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat claimed to put up a good fight against Patil, sections of the already divided opposition gave indications that they would root for the 72-year-old former Rajasthan governor.
According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Thursday's election would register at least 995,000 votes and Patil, backed by the UPA, Left and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), would win with a thumping majority.
Although 4,120 MLAs and 776 MPs constitute the electoral college, the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) decision to abstain from voting means the number of voters is going to come down.
"The abstaining voters are expected to account for 125,000 votes," Dasmunsi, the election agent of Patil, told reporters here.
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 the respective state.
Although the Election Commission, which conducts the once-in-five-years presidential election, has prepared Room 62 in the parliament house for MPs to vote, at least 58 of them would be voting outside the national capital – in their respective state assemblies.
"Twelve MLAs, who are stuck in Delhi due to various reasons including health reasons, will vote in parliament," Dasmunsi said.
The ruling alliance combine has 631,464 votes against the NDA's 314,411. The third grouping, UNPA, has 105,000 votes. Apart from the UNPA, Janata Dal-Secular, Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had announced that they would abstain from voting.
The Trinamool Congress, an ally of the BJP in the NDA, also has not clarified its stance yet. The Shiv Sena, the close ally of the BJP, has decided to support Patil.
Meanwhile, the National Conference, the main opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, decided to vote in favour of Patil at its national executive meeting.
The votes will be counted on Saturday.
The campaign in the run-up to the presidential election has been unprecedented due to the mudslinging that everyone admits has already damaged the dignity and prestige of the country's highest office.
Although Patil and Shekhawat, 83, one of India's most experienced politicians, have themselves not indulged in any mudslinging, their supporters have traded serious charges about them.
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.
In another embarrassment to the ruling Congress, the Mumbai High Court Tuesday slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for not probing the allegation against Patil's brother for his alleged role in the murder of a Congress leader in Maharashtra.
Refusing to comment on the court's views, Dasmunsi said: "It will not be fair for me to comment on a matter which is sub-judice. But the law will take its own course."
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.
Although it was claiming a moral high ground in the presidential election campaign, things were not at all smooth in the BJP-led opposition camp.
The national leadership, which has already jolted by key ally Shiv Sena's decision to vote for Patil, has been struggling to keep its flock together in the states, especially in the party-ruled states.
There have been indications of cross voting from the BJP strongholds of
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
While 30 MLAs and MPs stayed away from a party meeting to discuss the presidential election in Gujarat this week, in Madhya Pradesh 18 MLAs did not attend Tuesday evening's meeting in Bhopal.
With more and more voices of discontent coming from the states, BJP and other NDA leaders are apprehensive of garnering even the expected votes.
The new president will take over on July 25.