India gets First Woman President - Pratibha Patil

New Delhi, July 21: UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil was today named as the country's first woman President, after she crushed Vice-President and NDA backed Indepedent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by a massive margin to win the 13th Presidential poll.

The outcome was on expected lines with the 72-year-old veteran Congress leader from Maharashtra polling 6,38,116 votes to romp home to victory. Mr Shekhawat secured 3,31,306 votes, thus going down by a margin of 3,06,810 votes. The UPA-Left candidate secured 65.82 per cent of the valid votes polled while Mr Shekhawat got 34.18 per cent.

From the MLAs, Mrs Patil got 3,25,180 votes while her rival garnered 1, 67,050 votes. As many as 442 MPs voted for her, while Mr Shekhawat was supported by 232. Each MPs vote had a value of 708.

The MPs and MLAs of all the states form the electoral college, which chooses the country's President.

Mrs Patil will be sworn in as President on July 25 after outgoing President A P J Abdul Kalam demits office.

Talking to large supporters gathered outside her 11, South Avenue residence, she said, ''I am thankful to the people and the voters.'' ''It is a victory of principles,'' she said immediately after the results were declared officially.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who visited her residence after the official announcement of the results, hailed her election, saying it marked the triumph of ''secular and democratic forces'' against the divisive elements.

''The victory of Mrs Pratibha Patil for the august office of the President is the victory of the forces which were against the politics of divisiveness,'' Dr Singh said, adding it would strengthen the country's secular and democratic credentials.

A beaming Mrs Gandhi said it was a ''special occasion'' in which a woman had been elected for the exalted office of the President for the first time after independence.

The UPA chairperson also thanked leaders of the UPA constituents, Left parties and especially BSP President Mayawati for ensuring the victory of Mrs Patil.

CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan, who was also present, said it was a ''massive victory'', and those who voted against the UPA-Left candidate should reconcile themselves to the fact that 'Mrs Patil is now the President''.

As soon as the result was declared, a large number of Congress leaders and supporters thronged her residence to congratulate her on becoming the 13th President of the Indian Republic. They presented her a bouquet and garlands.

Talking to mediapersons after the completion of counting, her polling agent and Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi said though Mrs Patil's victory was expected, the margin was even beyond his expectations.

''It is massive...massive... massive,'' he said.

Weathering a bitterly-contested campaign, Mrs Patil's election as the country's first woman President caps a rich and varied political career in which she held key positions both at the state and national levels, including a gubernatorial assignment. She bravely faced the Opposition in the run up to her election countering various allegations, including that she was shielding her brother in a murder case, for being the chairperson of a cooperative bank that had its license revoked by the Reserve Bank of India for ''alleged financial irregularities,'' heading a sugar factory that defaulted on its bank loans and misuse of her MPLAD funds.

However, Ms Patil, the only Maharashtrian to have been elected to the highest office, denied all the charges against her, while asserting she would in no way be a ''rubberstamp'' Head of State.

In a career spanning over four decades, she has handled some of the most sensitive political assignments and played a pivotal role in the installation of the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra.

She was the Governor of Rajasthan, the first woman to occupy the Raj Bhavan in Jaipur, before resigning recently after her nomination as the UPA-Left candidate for the highest constitutional office. Beginning her public career as a lawyer in her native Jalgaon before being elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 1962, she was a five-time MLA till 1985. That year, she made her first foray into national politics, being elected to the Rajya Sabha and serving till 1990. She also was the Deputy Chairperson of the Upper House from November 1986 to November 1988. She also headed the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee from 1988 to 1990.

Ms Patil was also elected to the 10th Lok Sabha in the 1991 General Elections and was the Chairperson of the House Committee.

She also attended the World Womens Conference at Beijing in 1995 and spoke on behalf of the delegation.

After 1996, Ms Patil was not much politically active until the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government appointed her Governor of Rajasthan in November 2004.

As soon as the news of her victory came, celebrations -- going on at her nativa Jalgaon and her husband's native village Chhoti Losal in Rajasthan's Sikar district -- erupted into full-fledged festivities.

In the latter, it was virtually another holi festival with villagers gathering at the residence of Ms Patil's brothers-in-law and the main village chowk, smearing colours and gulal on each other and dancing to the beats of Chung (a folk instrument) and tunes of musical bands.

A special puja and yagna which were being performed at the Karni Mata Temple, built by Ms Patil's husband, for her victory over the past two days, also concluded this afternoon with ''poornaahuti''.

The people of Chhoti Losal had started celebrations yesterday itself in antipicipation of her victory.

The Raj Bhawan in Jaipur turned into a venue of jubilation following her victory. Soon after the formal declaration of the result, jubilation broke out and staff members greeted each other and distributed sweets.

Meanwhile, in her native Jalgaon, the entire district celebrated her victory.

People had started flocking to Mrs Patil's residence near the civil hospital in the Dixitwadi locality since early morning, sure of her win but speculating on what the margin would be.

The people had already started dancing to the tunes of ''dhol'' and ''tasha'' much before the results were declared. After 1500 hours, they had even started distributing sweets. And, once the results were declared, it was celebrations galore and the news was greeted with the bursting of crackers.

Jalgaon city wore a festive look and all the squares were decorated and festooned.

The R R School, where Mrs Patil had studied, also celebrated the elevation of its alumnus to the highest post in the country. The 3,000 students of the school gathered today and celebrated her victory. These students had also held prayers yesterday for her win.

''This is the happiest moment of our lives,'' members of Mrs Patil's family said.

UNI