Indian presidential election, 2007
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The Election Commission of India held indirect 13th presidential elections of India on 19 July 2007[1]. Pratibha Patil with 638,116 votes won over her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who got 331,306 votes. This result means that Pratibha Patil will become the first female President of India. [2]
Candidates
Official candidates
On June 14, Pratibha Patil, the governor of the state of Rajasthan, was declared by UPA as its candidate for the election. The Left and other allies of UPA such as BSP and DMK announced their support on Patil's candidature. The move came as a surprise as Patil's name was not mentioned among the probables by UPA so far.
Supported unofficially by the NDA, the current Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat filed his nomination as an independent candidate on June 25, 2007. [3]
People who were considered
Amidst lot of speculation by various party leaders and media, a lot of names were tossed around as being probable or desired persons for holding the premier post. The incumbent Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was not favored by many, especially the Left parties[4] to receive a renewed term.
Initially Shivraj Patil and Pranab Mukherjee (both sitting cabinet ministers) emerged as the frontrunners[5] for the candidature. Other names which did the rounds in the UPA camp include Sushil Kumar Shinde and Karan Singh. Pranab Mukherjee was stated to be too critical at his current responsibility to stand for the Presidential elections and the Left parties opposed the candidature of Shivaraj Patil, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Karan Singh.[6]
On the other hand, the NDA stated that it would support Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, in case he decides to contest as an independent candidate.[7].
Other probables such as N.R. Narayana Murthy who received significant media hype did not appear to have gathered any support from any of the sides. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister and who could have been NDA's probable candidate[8] denied his desire to become the next president.[9]
On June 18, a set of parties with allegiance neither with UPA or NDA viz AIADMK, TDP, SP formed an alliance called United National Progressive Alliance and announced their support for a second term for the incumbent, Abdul Kalam.[10]On June 20 a delegation of UNPA met Dr. Kalam with a request to contest the presidential elections, to which he replied that he is willing to contest only if there is a certainty of winning and that he is willing to wait for a few days for this certainty.[11] He however soon announced he would not run.
On July 14, 2007, J. Jayalalitha announced that the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) has unanimously decided to abstain from presidential polls. [12] However, the Election Commission of India held that the UNPA cannot ask its legislators to abstain from voting quoting Article 171 C of the Constitution. [13]
Process
- Further information: President of India
In 2007, the President of India was elected indirectly by the members of Indian Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of individual States. Although the election involves actual voting by MPs and MLAs, they tend to vote for the candidate supported by their respective parties.[14]
Hence the internal process for the election involved lobbying by parties for their respective candidates. UPA, the ruling coalition and NDA, the major opposition coalition hence hold the key to the nomination and support gathering. Another key player in the final decision was the Left parties, which agreed to support the UPA candidate under certain conditions for nomination[4]. Mayawati, the newly elected chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state of India, was also said to be a significant factor in the final election.[15]
Electoral College
Value of votes of elected members of the state legislative assemblies and both houses of parliament were decided as per provisions of article 55(2) of the Constitution of India. The details of number of voters and votes for this presidential election are given below.[16]
- Presidential elections in India involve proportional representation from
respective states. The number of votes assigned to a particular voter from state assembly is decided as follows.
 |
As per this calculation following are the number of votes for respective states.
| Sr. No. | Name of state | Number of Assembly Seats (elective) | Population (1971 Census) | Value of vote of Each MLA | Total value of votes for the state |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Andhra Pradesh | 294 | 43502708 | 148 | 43512 |
| 2. | Arunachal Pradesh | 60 | 467511 | 8 | 480 |
| 3. | Assam | 126 | 14625152 | 116 | 14616 |
| 4. | Bihar | 243 | 42126236 | 173 | 42039 |
| 5. | Chhattisgarh | 90 | 11637494 | 129 | 11610 |
| 6. | Goa | 40 | 795120 | 20 | 800 |
| 7. | Gujarat | 182 | 26697475 | 147 | 26754 |
| 8. | Haryana | 90 | 10036808 | 112 | 10080 |
| 9. | Himachal Pradesh | 68 | 3460434 | 51 | 3468 |
| 10. | Jammu & Kashmir* | 87 | 6300000 | 72 | 6264 |
| 11. | Jharkhand | 81 | 14227133 | 176 | 14256 |
| 12. | Karnataka | 224 | 29299014 | 131 | 29344 |
| 13. | Kerala | 140 | 21347375 | 152 | 21280 |
| 14. | Madhya Pradesh | 230 | 30016625 | 131 | 30130 |
| 15. | Maharashtra | 288 | 50412235 | 175 | 50400 |
| 16. | Manipur | 60 | 1072753 | 18 | 1080 |
| 17. | Meghalaya | 60 | 1011699 | 17 | 1020 |
| 18. | Mizoram | 40 | 332390 | 8 | 320 |
| 19. | Nagaland | 60 | 516449 | 9 | 540 |
| 20. | Orissa | 147 | 21944615 | 149 | 21903 |
| 21. | Punjab | 117 | 13551060 | 116 | 13572 |
| 22. | Rajasthan | 200 | 25765806 | 129 | 25800 |
| 23. | Sikkim | 32 | 209843 | 7 | 224 |
| 24. | Tamilnadu | 234 | 41199168 | 176 | 41184 |
| 25. | Tripura | 60 | 1556342 | 26 | 1560 |
| 26. | Uttarakhand | 70 | 4491239 | 64 | 4480 |
| 27. | Uttar Pradesh | 403 | 83849905 | 208 | 83824 |
| 28. | West Bengal | 294 | 44312011 | 151 | 44394 |
| 29. | NCT of Delhi | 70 | 4065698 | 58 | 4060 |
| 30. | Puducherry | 30 | 471707 | 16 | 480 |
| Total | 4120 | 549302005 | 549474 |
(*) Constitution (Application to the Jammu & Kashmir) Order
- Total Members of Parliament- Lok Sabha (543) + Rajya Sabha (233) = 776
- Value of each vote = 549474/776 = 708
- Total value of votes of Parliament = 549408
- Total number of electors = MLAs + MPs = 4896
- Total number of votes = 1098882
As per this calculation following are the number of votes for respective political
parties.
Figures are based upon [1] and [2]. Figure on Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seats do not take into consideration splits, mergers, defections, expulsions and bye-elections after general elections have been held.
Results
| MPs | MLAs | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pratibha Patil | 312,936 | 325,180 | 638,116 |
| Bhairon Singh Shekhawat | 164,256 | 167,050 | 331,306 |
Source: "India gets first woman president", NDTV.com, 2007-07-21. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
References
- ^ Indian MPs vote for new president. BBC News. Retrieved on July 19 2007.
- ^ "Pratibha Patil becomes next President of India".
- ^ "Shekhawat files his nomination papers", AndhraNews.net, 2007-06-25. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
- ^ a b
- ^ http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070014656
- ^ Press Trust of India. "Pratibha Patil is UPA-Left nominee for Prez poll", 2007-06-14. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
- ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2104843.cms
- ^ http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070012125
- ^ http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=86607
- ^ http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/06_2007/patil-a-joke-played-by-sonia-kalam-is-best-third-front-43132.html
- ^ Kalam surprises Third Front by his changed stance
- ^ "Third Front decides to abstain from presidential polls", AndhraNews.net.
- ^ "UNPA cannot abstain from voting in presidential poll: EC".
- ^ http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070012825
- ^ http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070013298
- ^ http://eci.gov.in/Presidential/President%20of%20India%20(Election%202007).pdf
External links
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