Prez poll:Its Shekhawat vs Pratibha Patil;Third Front for Kalam

New Delhi/Chennai, June 18 (UNI) The battlelines were drawn today with the NDA formally deciding to support Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as a ''non-party and Independent candidate'' for the presidentship against UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil even as the Third Front of eight regional parties favoured a second term for Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.

Announcing the NDA's decision after a meeting of amalgam leaders, its chairman and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the NDA was of the ''unanimous view'' that Mr Shekhawat was the best and appropriate choice as a ''non-party and independent candidate for the high office''.

The NDA wholeheartedly supports Mr Shekhawat, as an independent candidate for the office of President of India, he added.

''He combines a life time experience of dedicated public service with rare qualities of head and heart. A public figure of eminence, high repute, unmatched credentials, Mr Shekhwat has discharged his latest responsibilities as the country's Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha, entirely beyond party affiliations with impeccable secular credentials,'' senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, who is assisting Mr Vajpayee in the Presidential polls, said.

NDA Convenor George Fernandes expressed the hope that Mr Shekhwat would surmount the challenge posed by the NDA as electoral arithmatic was always dynamic and not static. ''We know where we stand and where others are placed,'' he remarked.

About the UPA putting up Ms Patil as the first woman President, he said she was the ''last choice having least value'' among the UPA candidates considered''.

With the NDA formally rejecting the UPA's appeal for a consensus on the Presidential nominee, the stage is set for a battle royale between the two Shekhawats -- the Vice President who is considered the tallest Rajasthan leader and UPA nominee and Rajasthan Governor Pratibha Patil, who is of Maharashtra origin but married to Dr Devi Singh Shekhawat, a Rajasthan resident, who migrated to Maharashtra.

Mr Shekhawat, on paper, has an uphill task as the number of parties supporting his rival is very high. However his own past record of securing votes of 74 MPs of non-NDA votes in the Vice Presidential polls five years ago has caused consternation among the UPA poll managers.

Meanwhile, further queering the pitch for a smooth Presidential Poll, eight regional parties, which met in Chennai today, formed themselves into the United National Progressive Alliance and favoured a second term for President Kalam.

After marathon deliberations, AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa said all parties, including the Left, BJP and the DMK should come forward and support Dr Kalam's candidature in the interests of the nation.

''Many consider as a joke, the nomination of Ms Patil,'' the AIADMK chief said ''The Front would soon seek an appointment with Dr Kalam and persuade him to stand for a second term.'' Sources said Mr Shekhawat, though entering the fray as an independent, was unacceptable to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu as he had the BJP tag and supporting him would seriously affect the Muslim vote banks in their respective States -- Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

It appears that the Front, which had a vote bank share of just over one lakh votes in the electoral college, was preparing the ground for abstaining from voting, as it nominated Dr Kalam who has made it clear that he was not interested in a second term.

On June 14, Ms Patil's candidature had been announced by the UPA and the Left parties. A consensus on her name was reached after several rounds of talks between their leaders.

Immediately after the announcement, the Congress-led UPA launched its campaign for Ms Patil with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking the support of former Prime Ministers, including Mr Vajpayee. He then called his predecessors H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral and V P Singh.

However, Mr Vajpayee told Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Dr Singh that their calls were 'too late' for the NDA to change its mind. They should have called before the actual announcement, informed sources cited him as saying.

Meanwhile, nominations opened today for the July 19 Presidential poll with Delhi resident Ram Krishen Mital becoming the first person to file his papers. The EC issued the notification for the polls on June 16. The last date of filing nominations was fixed for June 30 and the date for scrutiny was July 2.

UNI