Pratibha Patil is UPA-Left Presidential candidate

New Delhi, June 14: Veteran Congress leader and Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil will be the UPA-Left candidate for the country's Presidentship, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi announced today.

''It is a matter of pride and historic moment that in the 60 years of the Republic, the nominee (for Presidentship) is a woman.

Her choice was unanimous,'' Ms Gandhi told a meeting of the UPA-Left Coordination Committee this evening.

Her name was finalised by the ruling coalition and supporting Left parties after a series of meetings between leaders belonging to the two groupings throughout the day.

If elected, Mrs Patil will be the fist woman to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

A veteran Congress leader and loyalist of Ms Gandhi, Mrs Patil had also been the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1988.

Her name for the Presidentship came as a big surprise after the Left parties firmly rejected the Congress proposal to consider the names of Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde or veteran Congress leader Karan Singh for the highest constitutional post.

While her name was being discussed in Delhi, Mrs Patil was returing to Jaipur from Mount Abu. When contacted by UNI