New Delhi: Pranab Mukherjee will not use an official car as he drives up to Parliament in a short while from now to file his nomination papers for the Presidential election. He is expected to use the personal car of fellow Congressman and minister V Narayanasamy.
At Parliament House, flanked by a pantheon of political leaders and with 480 important signatures on his four sets of nomination papers, Mr Mukherjee, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) candidate, will stake claim to be President of India. Soon after, his challenger, Purno Sangma, who is supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal, will also file his papers today in what is expected to be an equal show of strength.
Mr Mukherjee will file his nomination papers accompanied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the NC's Farooq Abdullah, the DMK's TR Baalu, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and, notably, Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United) which is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He is also being supported by parties like the Samajwadi Party and BSP and calculations at present give him a comfortable advantage with about 56 per cent votes in the electoral college. Missing today will be key UPA ally Mamata Banerjee.
Sharad Yadav is the first signatory on one set of Mr Mukherjee's nomination papers. Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati have also signed Mr Mukherjee's nomination papers. Among the 480 MPs and MLAs that have proposed and seconded his nomination are union ministers, chief ministers and Congress Legislature Party leaders.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who is Mr Mukherjee's authorised election agent, told NDTV that the former Finance Minister will not file an asset declaration as it is not required under law. He, however, added that it is for Mr Mukherjee to decide if he wants to declare his assets at a later stage. Polling will be held on July 19 and India will have a new President by July 22.
The numbers don't favour former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma, but he is backed by the BJP, and two powerful Chief Ministers - Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalithaa and her AIADMK, and Odisha's Naveen Patnaik and his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and he is expected to wear that support on his sleeve when he files his papers this afternoon. High-profile BJP leaders like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Patnaik and Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal are likely to be present.
After today's grand photo opportunities as nomination papers are filed, both candidates will get into campaign mode. For Mr Mukherjee that will mean consolidating his numbers. He will fly by a private jet arranged by the Congress first to Chennai and then to Bangalore and Hyderabad as he kicks off his campaign.
Mr Mukherjee has wider support than mere political alignments would allow as he is expected to be a political president. His candidacy came not without drama - some brinkmanship from Mamata Banerjee which included heart-in-the-mouth moments as the Congress' good friend Mulayam Singh Yadav seemed to waver. His own party seemed undecided for long whether it could spare a man who wore many hats. In the end, however, Mr Mukherjee did not see a repeat of 2007 - when the Congress had said it could not spare him for Rashtrapati Bhavan - and was declared the UPA's candidate.
He has some Leftist support too in the CPM and cleanly sliced through the NDA when important constituent the JD(U) declared Mr Mukherjee was its man for President. The UPA's one loss - Mamata Banerjee, who, however, has still not said an emphatic yes to the Mr Sangma either. Trinamool Congress sources say she will remain "equidistant."
Mr Sangma is expected to ensure a high decibel contest. He quit his party, the NCP, which as a UPA ally is staunchly supporting Mr Mukherjee.
At Parliament House, flanked by a pantheon of political leaders and with 480 important signatures on his four sets of nomination papers, Mr Mukherjee, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) candidate, will stake claim to be President of India. Soon after, his challenger, Purno Sangma, who is supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal, will also file his papers today in what is expected to be an equal show of strength.
Mr Mukherjee will file his nomination papers accompanied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the NC's Farooq Abdullah, the DMK's TR Baalu, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and, notably, Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United) which is a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He is also being supported by parties like the Samajwadi Party and BSP and calculations at present give him a comfortable advantage with about 56 per cent votes in the electoral college. Missing today will be key UPA ally Mamata Banerjee.
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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who is Mr Mukherjee's authorised election agent, told NDTV that the former Finance Minister will not file an asset declaration as it is not required under law. He, however, added that it is for Mr Mukherjee to decide if he wants to declare his assets at a later stage. Polling will be held on July 19 and India will have a new President by July 22.
The numbers don't favour former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma, but he is backed by the BJP, and two powerful Chief Ministers - Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalithaa and her AIADMK, and Odisha's Naveen Patnaik and his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and he is expected to wear that support on his sleeve when he files his papers this afternoon. High-profile BJP leaders like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Patnaik and Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal are likely to be present.
After today's grand photo opportunities as nomination papers are filed, both candidates will get into campaign mode. For Mr Mukherjee that will mean consolidating his numbers. He will fly by a private jet arranged by the Congress first to Chennai and then to Bangalore and Hyderabad as he kicks off his campaign.
Mr Mukherjee has wider support than mere political alignments would allow as he is expected to be a political president. His candidacy came not without drama - some brinkmanship from Mamata Banerjee which included heart-in-the-mouth moments as the Congress' good friend Mulayam Singh Yadav seemed to waver. His own party seemed undecided for long whether it could spare a man who wore many hats. In the end, however, Mr Mukherjee did not see a repeat of 2007 - when the Congress had said it could not spare him for Rashtrapati Bhavan - and was declared the UPA's candidate.
He has some Leftist support too in the CPM and cleanly sliced through the NDA when important constituent the JD(U) declared Mr Mukherjee was its man for President. The UPA's one loss - Mamata Banerjee, who, however, has still not said an emphatic yes to the Mr Sangma either. Trinamool Congress sources say she will remain "equidistant."
Mr Sangma is expected to ensure a high decibel contest. He quit his party, the NCP, which as a UPA ally is staunchly supporting Mr Mukherjee.
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