All the Presidential men
All the Presidential men
Who will succeed President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam? With Kalam due to give up the presidency on 24 July, political parties led by Congress are lobbying to garner support for their choices. Ashish Sharma takes a look at the names thrown up by parties keen to assess their chances before arriving at a decision on whether to back them or not.
Arjun Singh, 76
Status: Frontrunner
Motilal Vora, 78
Status: Dark Horse
Shivraj Patil, 71
Status: Frontrunner
Bhairon?Singh?Shekhawat,?83
Status: Dark Horse
Shekhawat, a former chief minister of Rajasthan, is said to be confident that he can well repeat the performance, which is why he could stand as an independent candidate backed by the NDA.
As the presidential contest is held through a secret ballot and no party whips are issued, the vice-president could hope to upset the UPA’s nominee.
Pranab Mukherjee, 71
Status: Dark Horse
Sushilkumar Shinde, 65
Status: Dark Horse
Manmohan Singh, 74
Status: Extreme wild card
This could give the Congress president Sonia Gandhi an opportunity for a drastic reshuffle of the cabinet well in advance of the next general election, due in 2009.
The scenario backed by nothing more than murmurs within the Congress party and speculation among political analysts, is not entirely out of question. It might just give the Congress the change of image it requires for a possible reversal in its plummeting electoral fortunes since last year. But Singh is likely to demur.
APJ Abdul Kalam, 75
Status: Very long shot
It is clear that Kalam could be an option if all else fails for the Congress. So far, it doesn’t look like the popular President will stay put in the big house.
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