NEW DELHI, 26 June 2007 — Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat formally entered the presidential race yesterday by filing his nomination papers as an independent candidate supported by Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Shekhawat handed two sets of nomination papers to returning officer and Lok Sabha Secretary-General P.D.T. Achary at Parliament House. He was accompanied by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, NDA convener George Fernandes, senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Janata Dal (U) chief Sharad Yadav, Akali Dal chief Prakash Singh Badal and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik.
Former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, including Narendra Modi (Gujarat) and Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) were also present. Despite realizing that the numbers are heavily stacked against him with the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and left parties supporting Pratibha Patil and the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), or Third Front, refusing to disclose who it was backing, Shekhawat sounded confident.
“I am confident of winning the presidential election. I believe the numbers in this elections are in my favor,” said the 84-year-old Shekhawat who is a former chief minister of Rajasthan.
Leaders of both the Shiv Sena and Trinamool Congress (TC), key allies in the NDA, were noticeably absent on the occasion. Dinesh Trivedi, Trinamool Congress MP, who had earlier committed to accompany Shekhawat, surprisingly absented himself at the last minute.
On its part, the Shiv Sena has yet to publicly announce its position on the presidential poll, keeping many in the NDA guessing on whether it will plug for Pratibha a Maharashtrian who resigned her job as Rajasthan governor to contest the election. “They (Sena) have not said anything on who they are going to back. I think a decision will be made in a couple of days,” said a senior BJP leader.
But the absence of these two vital allies was made up at least partially by the presence of Natwar Singh and Bhim Singh who recently walked out of the Congress-Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) combine.
