PM, Sonia sign Patil's papers; parties mull Kalam factor

New Delhi, June 19 (UNI) The race for electing the country's 13th President is hotting up with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh formally endorsing UPA-Left candidate Pratibha Patil's nomination today even as political parties went into a huddle after the Third Front's ''surprise'' decision to seek a second term for incumbent APJ Abdul Kalam.

Ms Gandhi signed Ms Patil's documents as the first proposer and Dr Singh as the second proposer. The UPA-Left candidate is likely to file her papers on June 23 for the July 19 presidential poll. They signed the papers in the presence of I and B Minister P R Dasmunsi, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan and Minister of State for Personnel Suresh Pachouri.

The formal exercise to prepare Ms Patil's nomination papers came a day after the race to elect the country's next President took a new turn with the Third Front, comprising eight regional parties, springing a surprise by calling for a consensus on Dr Kalam.

The BJP, which has announced its support for the independent candidature of Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, said it was ready to support Dr Kalam if he agreed. ''Efforts will be made for a consensus in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in this regard,'' BJP chief Rajnath Singh told newspersons in Chhattisgarh.

After the Third Front's announcement yesterday, Mr Shekhawat had hinted that he could withdraw from the Presidential race if there was a consensus on President Kalam.

Dr Singh, meanwhile, sought an appointment with President Kalam today. Leaders of the Third Front, called the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), will also meet him tomorrow to persuade him to stand for a second term in office. They include AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa , SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, TDP chief President N Chandrababu Naidu, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala and MDMK General Secretary Vaiko.

Pitching in for Ms Patil, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said she was the joint candidate of the Left and the UPA and would enjoy their support as her candidature was decided unanimously and criticised the Third Front for naming Dr Kalam as its candidate.

He alleged that realising his ''weak'' position in the Presidential race, Mr Shekhawat was backing the Third Fronts proposal.

Union Steel, Chemical and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan also urged the Opposition to support Ms Patil in the election.

In Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M Karunanidhi flayed the Third Front particularly AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa for describing as a ''joke'' the UPA-Left parties' choice of Ms Patil as its Presidential candidate. Mr Karunanidhi, who played a key role in evolving a consensus between the Congress and the Left parties in selecting Ms Patil, said the UNPA could have avoided earning the tag of ''Jokers Front'' by making the remark.

Congress Secretary Shantaram Naik also took strong exception to Ms Jayalalithaa's remark and demanded an open apology. He said Ms Jayalalithaa had insulted women and also defamed the Governor's post as Ms Patil was still the Rajasthan Governor.

Four more nominations were filed today for the Presidential election, taking the total number to seven. None of them have made any deposit, nor do their nomination papers bear the names of any proposers or seconders.

The last date for making nominations is June 30 and scrutiny will take place on July 2. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is July 4. While the poll is to be held on July 19, counting of votes is slated for July 22.

As many as 776 Members of Parliament, including 543 from the Lok Sabha, and 4,120 legislators from various states, including Delhi and Puducherry, constitute the electoral college whose total vote value comes to 10,98,882 votes.

The ruling UPA alliance has got over 5.13 lakh votes while the strength of the opposition NDA is over 3.54 lakh votes and the combination of eight regional parties constituting the third front accounts for 1.05 lakh votes.

UNI