Pratibha Patil set to become first woman President

New Delhi, July 18 (UNI) With numbers heavily stacked in her favour, UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil appears all set to be elected the first woman President of the Republic when voting for the highest constitutional office takes place tomorrow.

Mrs Patil's rival and Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the Independent candidate backed by the NDA, stands virtually no chance of making it to the coveted post, given the composition of Parliament and state assemblies.

The 13th President will take over on July 25 after outgoing President A P J Abdul Kalam demits office to guide the country's destiny over the next 5 years as the Head of the State and the Supreme Commander of the Armed forces. Mrs Patil is likely to create history by becoming the first woman to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhawan even though INA veteran Lakshmi Segal was the first woman candidate to contest for the highest constitutional post during the last election.

This must certainly rank as the most bitterly contested Presidential poll with the Opposition levelling a series of charges against the UPA-Left nominee and the UPA hurling accusations at Mr Shekhawat over his association with the RSS before he became the Vice-President.

Mr Shekhawat and the NDA were hopeful that they would be able to cause a split within the UPA over the Presidential nominee, owing largely to the fact that the Vice-President has a large number of loyal friends within the ruling coalition, including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) leader Lalu Prasad.

However, the UPA partners refused to fall prey to the wooing tactics of Mr Shekhawat and assured their firm backing for Mrs Patil.

Adding to the NDA's woes, the Shiv Sena decided to support Mrs Patil on account of her being a Maharashtrian, thus causing a division within the ranks of the Opposition combine.

The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) of regional parties, meanwhile, decided to abstain from voting, giving another blow to Mr Shekhawat's dream of occupying the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Election Commission's judgement... picking up from para three, line one of DI 7, PRESIDENT-POLLS-CURTAINRAISER.

UNI