Sunday, July 22, 2007 (New Delhi)
India Gets First Woman
President
UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil won the presidential
election to become India's first woman president in a bitterly contested poll
that saw some cross voting from the BJP.
Patil won by a huge three lakh margin defeating NDA-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
She will be sworn-in as president on July 25.
''This is the victory of the principles which our Indian people uphold,'' Patil told mediapersons outside her residence.
In the final count, Patil got a vote value of 6,38,116 while Shekhawat secured 3,31,306 in an electoral college of 10.98 lakh.
The winner got 65.82 per cent of the valid votes, Lok Sabha Secretary General and returning officer PDT Achary said at the end of counting of votes.
In Parliament, she got 442 votes against 232 of Shekhawat. In states and union territories put together, the winning candidate bagged 2,489 votes against the loser's 1,217.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee congratulated president-elect Pratibha Patil.
In a message sent along with flowers to the UPA-Left presidential candidate, he said, ''Please accept my heartiest felicitation on your resounding victory and my best wishes for your glorious tenure as our rashtrapatiji.''
Cross voting factor
Dashing all hopes of the BJP-led alliance for a conscience vote in favour of Shekhawat, the 72-year-old former Governor of Rajasthan significantly picked up votes of the value of 11,000 more than expected.
She was helped by cross voting in BJP-ruled states of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
In the other saffron-ruled state of Madhya Pradesh, Shekhawat did not poll even the expected votes with 11 declared invalid because of writings like 'Om' and 'Jai Shri Ram', apparently indicating rebellion among the BJP voters.
'Victory of principles'
A beaming Patil thanked the people for her success, which she said was a ''victory of the principles which our Indian people uphold''.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi drove to her residence shortly after her official announcement to greet her on her victory.
Gandhi said she was happy and proud that for the first time after independence, a woman has been chosen as the Head of State. She thanked the leaders of the UPA constituents and other allies, including BSP supremo Mayawati.
The Prime Minister said Patil's election was a vote against ''politics of divisiveness'' and in favour of unity and strengthening the foundations of our secular republic.
The counting of votes was almost on predictable lines with Patil taking most of the states except in Haryana where two of her supporting MLAs did not vote and in Jammu and Kashmir, she appeared to have dropped some votes.
Unexpected support
Patil got unexpected support from dissidents in the rival camps in BJP and AGP. In Gujarat, apparently four BJP anti-Modi MLAs voted for Patil, as did 15 AGP legislators in Assam.
Shekhawat failed to open his account in the combined Marxist-Congress bastion of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. In Mizoram too, he scored a duck.
However, in his home state of Rajasthan, Shekhawat appeared to have got the votes of four INLD MLAs who defied their party's decision to abstain.
The other state where he got far more than expected votes was Tamil Nadu with 58 votes from AIADMK, MDMK and probably actor Vijaykant.
Patil scored impressively in Maharashtra where Shiv Sena broke ranks with BJP and supported her. She got 223 of the 281 votes polled while Shekhawat got 58.
The electoral college consisted of 4,472 votes. Of this, 4,394 were the valid votes with a value of 9,69,422.
In the proportional representation system of voting, while MPs have a uniform value of 708 for each vote, the value of an MLA's vote differs from state to state with UP accounting for a maximum value of 208 whereas Sikkim accounts for the lowest value of seven for each vote.
Murky polls
The counting of votes for the presidential poll started at 11 am (IST) on Saturday. The first ballot box was opened at the counting centre at Parliament House by Achary.
Union Minister P R Dasmunsi and Satyapal Jain, the election agents of Patil and Shekhawat respectively, were present at the occasion.
The sealed ballot boxes were brought by Indian flights to the capital from the capitals of states and union territories where MLAs and some MPs exercised their franchise on Friday.
A total of 682 MPs and 3,755 MLAs cast their ballots and seven states and union territories registered a 100 per cent turnout.
Patil won by a huge three lakh margin defeating NDA-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.
She will be sworn-in as president on July 25.
''This is the victory of the principles which our Indian people uphold,'' Patil told mediapersons outside her residence.
In the final count, Patil got a vote value of 6,38,116 while Shekhawat secured 3,31,306 in an electoral college of 10.98 lakh.
The winner got 65.82 per cent of the valid votes, Lok Sabha Secretary General and returning officer PDT Achary said at the end of counting of votes.
In Parliament, she got 442 votes against 232 of Shekhawat. In states and union territories put together, the winning candidate bagged 2,489 votes against the loser's 1,217.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee congratulated president-elect Pratibha Patil.
In a message sent along with flowers to the UPA-Left presidential candidate, he said, ''Please accept my heartiest felicitation on your resounding victory and my best wishes for your glorious tenure as our rashtrapatiji.''
Cross voting factor
Dashing all hopes of the BJP-led alliance for a conscience vote in favour of Shekhawat, the 72-year-old former Governor of Rajasthan significantly picked up votes of the value of 11,000 more than expected.
She was helped by cross voting in BJP-ruled states of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
In the other saffron-ruled state of Madhya Pradesh, Shekhawat did not poll even the expected votes with 11 declared invalid because of writings like 'Om' and 'Jai Shri Ram', apparently indicating rebellion among the BJP voters.
| All India (MLA + MP) | ||
| Pratibha Patil | B S Shekhawat | |
| Actual | 638116 | 331306 |
| Expected | 626350 | 341201 |
| Difference | 11766 | -9895 |
| Total Votes | 1094681 | |
| MP | ||
| Pratibha Patil | B S Shekhawat | |
| Actual | 312936 | 164256 |
| Expected | 310812 | 167088 |
| Difference | 2124 | -2832 |
| Total Votes | 546576 | |
| MLA | ||
| Pratibha Patil | B S Shekhawat | |
| Actual | 325180 | 167050 |
| Expected | 315538 | 174113 |
| Difference | 9642 | -7063 |
| Total Votes | 548105 | |
'Victory of principles'
A beaming Patil thanked the people for her success, which she said was a ''victory of the principles which our Indian people uphold''.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi drove to her residence shortly after her official announcement to greet her on her victory.
Gandhi said she was happy and proud that for the first time after independence, a woman has been chosen as the Head of State. She thanked the leaders of the UPA constituents and other allies, including BSP supremo Mayawati.
The Prime Minister said Patil's election was a vote against ''politics of divisiveness'' and in favour of unity and strengthening the foundations of our secular republic.
The counting of votes was almost on predictable lines with Patil taking most of the states except in Haryana where two of her supporting MLAs did not vote and in Jammu and Kashmir, she appeared to have dropped some votes.
Unexpected support
Patil got unexpected support from dissidents in the rival camps in BJP and AGP. In Gujarat, apparently four BJP anti-Modi MLAs voted for Patil, as did 15 AGP legislators in Assam.
Shekhawat failed to open his account in the combined Marxist-Congress bastion of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. In Mizoram too, he scored a duck.
However, in his home state of Rajasthan, Shekhawat appeared to have got the votes of four INLD MLAs who defied their party's decision to abstain.
The other state where he got far more than expected votes was Tamil Nadu with 58 votes from AIADMK, MDMK and probably actor Vijaykant.
Patil scored impressively in Maharashtra where Shiv Sena broke ranks with BJP and supported her. She got 223 of the 281 votes polled while Shekhawat got 58.
The electoral college consisted of 4,472 votes. Of this, 4,394 were the valid votes with a value of 9,69,422.
In the proportional representation system of voting, while MPs have a uniform value of 708 for each vote, the value of an MLA's vote differs from state to state with UP accounting for a maximum value of 208 whereas Sikkim accounts for the lowest value of seven for each vote.
Murky polls
The counting of votes for the presidential poll started at 11 am (IST) on Saturday. The first ballot box was opened at the counting centre at Parliament House by Achary.
Union Minister P R Dasmunsi and Satyapal Jain, the election agents of Patil and Shekhawat respectively, were present at the occasion.
The sealed ballot boxes were brought by Indian flights to the capital from the capitals of states and union territories where MLAs and some MPs exercised their franchise on Friday.
A total of 682 MPs and 3,755 MLAs cast their ballots and seven states and union territories registered a 100 per cent turnout.