Pratibha pitchforked into presidential race

Pratibha Patil Shekhawat, governor of Rajasthan, will be the UPA's nominee for the post of president of India.

As Congressmen discussed how the tail had managed to wag the dog, the combined pressure of the Left parties and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) forced the leadership of the Congress to revise its slate of candidates in favour of a woman Rajput candidate who is also a Shekhawat (although she has used her maiden name for most of her political career).

In the end, caste and gender were the qualifications that clinched Patil-Shekhawat's nomination.

Alarm bells began to sound this morning when a Left-DMK meeting failed to reach a consensus on Home Minister Shivraj Patil's nomination. Sources present at the meeting said the phrase "incompetent person" figured in the discussion between the Left parties and the DMK.

The result of the meeting was conveyed to Sonia Gandhi by CPI-M leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury who drove down to 7 Race Course Road, after which a previously scheduled Cabinet meeting was cancelled and the government began bracing itself for a crisis.

A number of names went back and forth. Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh's name was proposed by the DMK, but this was turned down because it was felt that Singh's health might not allow him to do justice to the onerous duties of the president of India that include inspecting guards of honour, an exercise that requires the incumbent to be able to walk.

Former President Shankar Dayal Sharma's infirmities were recalled, especially at investiture ceremonies where, because of bad knees, he was unable to stand up to honour soldiers posthumously.

The Left parties once again tried to moot Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee's candidature but the prime minister said bluntly that the government could not spare him.

Briefly, Defence Minister A K Antony's candidature was proposed, but this got short shrift from the Left parties, given the political friction in Kerala.

Later, at a meeting at 7 Race Course Road, Shivraj Patil himself suggested changing the focus of the search and proposed the name of a woman. Briefly Nirmala Deshpande, Gandhian and leader of a peace group between India and Pakistan was discussed.

But then the home minister recalled the contribution of Pratibha Patil Shekhawat to the nation "� she had been elected to the Lok Sabha, and been president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha in the 1980s. When the Left parties agreed to the name, the matter was clinched.

By evening, Congressmen, reacting with varying degrees of disbelief, anger and indignation, settled down in resignation to electing the first woman president of India.

"I am disgusted at this display of tokenism," a Congressman from Maharashtra said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi also spoke to BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee seeking support for Pratibha Patil, BJP sources said.