SHIVRAJ PATIL --- RIGHT MAN FOR PRESIDENT??
Thalabathi
After almost a one and half month gap i ccome back again with a new
post..
Hope this would be interesting for all..
And also i request you all pencilers to reply/share your comments/
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ofcourse that's the primary aim of our group.
Here is my post
The battle between the ruling UPA coalition and the Opposition NDA for
India's next President is intensifying. While the Congress got a boost
on Tuesday with BSP chief and UP Chief Minister Mayawati announcing
her party's unconditional support for UPA's Presidential candidate, it
is also clear that many UPA allies like the Left and NCP are not keen
on Home Minister Shivraj Patil being chosen for the top job.
Patil emerged as the frontrunner after the Congress indicated that it
would be difficult to de-engage Pranab Mukherjee from his role in the
Government as the External Affairs Minister.
But sources tell CNN-IBN that the Left parties have also rejected the
Congress' other nominee: former Union Minister Karan Singh.
The Left parties, who met in Delhi on Tuesday, will take a decision on
which candidate to support on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the UPA is now waiting for the arrival of Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister M Karunanidhi in Delhi on Wednesday. Karunanidhi's DMK is the
third largest party in the UPA.
On CNN-IBN's show Face the Nation a panel of experts comprising Editor-
in-Chief, Outlook, Vinod Mehta, MP, CPI (M), Mohammad Salim and
Spokesperson, Congress, Jayanthi Natarajan came together with host
Vidya Shankar Aiyar to answer - Should Shivraj Patil be the next
President of India?
Take the Left turn
After having won the crucial support of BSP, the Congress may now have
to prepare for a new battle to win the support of the Left.
When Jayanthi Natarajan was asked if it's a clear answer that Shivraj
Patil must be the next President, she said, "The Indian National
Congress has made no announcement, UPA has made no announcement. And
unless the UPA makes a final announcement, it's not possible to say
who the UPA candidate will be."
Shivraj Patil
========
Positives
=======
- Loyalty to Sonia Gandhi
- Seniority
- Highly respected for his innings as Lok Sabha Speaker
- Well-read man
- Non-controversial with a clean image
- Not known for his administrative skills
Negatives
=======
- He is considered a lightweight
- Lacks political stature
- Could end up as a rubber-stamp
- Not known for his administrative skills
- He is seen to be ineffective as Home Minister
- Has little mass appeal beyond Latur
But the Left parties are not in favour of supporting Shivraj Patil as
a candidate for the Presidential election, and say they would support
a political and secular candidate.
"Since the last few months, there has been a lot of speculation, but
the CPI-M or the Left have not come out with any suggestions. We have
not zeroed in on any name," said Mohammad Salim.
Editor-in-Chief, Outlook, Vinod Mehta added, "There is no name but
suppose Shivraj Patil was the name, then I think there has been a lot
of discussion in the media and political parties about the suitability
of Shivraj Patil. And the discussion hasn't been on his independence,
but that he doesn't have the stature to be the President of India."
Mehta added that it's not a good thing if UPA allies themselves are
saying that Patil is not the right man because he is a lightweight.
What is the trend?
The verdict is not out yet, but the trend seems to be clear that
Shivraj Patil is not seen as a favourite at all by most of the people.
"I think whichever candidate is chosen by the UPA after consultation
with all allies will be a person of stature," said Jayanthi Natarajan.
But Mehta seemed to disagree and said, "The whole process of electing
the President has been reduced to a farce. The election process should
have been transparent and some standard should have been set."
He added that it was not right for everybody to throw his or her hat
into the ring. Public cynicism will grow with the kinds of things that
are happening in the way the Congress and the BJP is projecting their
candidates.
"A person who should be elected should be a national symbol," Mehta
said.
Election, a farce?
Why is it so difficult for the UPA and Sonia Gandhi to decide who
should the next President of India considering that on Monday night
Mayawati, after her dinner with Sonia Gandhi, said that the name would
be announced on Tuesday. But the Congress has been mum on the issue.
"It's not difficult at all. When the time is right, the candidate will
be announced. And the time frame cannot be set by the media," Jayanthi
Natarajan said.
But if the Congress says it is talking to people, who is that they are
talking to?
Figures stacked in the Presidential race:
Congress 280,000
UPA allies 141,000
Left 111,000
UPA total 532,000
BSP 57,200
NDA, SP, Others 511,000
"Karunanidhi is expected today. There are other allies in the UPA, not
just Mayawati. She is a very important person to be considered in view
of the large kitty of votes that she has. Therefore these things will
take time," said Jayanthi Natarajan.
When asked why the is Left objecting to Shivraj Patil, Mohammad Salim
said, "The Left was just discussing amongst themselves. It's not a one-
party rule..."
Was he then denying that the Left is not objecting to Shivraj Patil?
"We have tried to set a standard. We have said that these are the
conditions and we have made it public. And now the Congress has to
find someone who can fit in," Salim said.
But what would be the alternative for the Left if it were not Shivraj
Patil?
"It depends on the Congress and it's discussion with its allies. Here
it is a peculiar situation where you have a party without a candidate
and a candidate without a party," Salim said.
You seem to suggest that Shivraj Patil will not be the candidate that
the Left will be happy with because that name is not there at all in
the table for discussion?
"We have given three conditions," Salim said.
Since the politicians were unwilling to step forward and take a call,
Vinod Mehta was asked for final comments on who should be the next
politician of India.
"There is overwhelming opinion in this country that the next President
of India should be an eminent person but should be a non-politician.
But the political class is united. It's a turf war and they will not
let this job go. But the country doesn't want a politician who emerges
from the cauldron of party politics and this is a message the
politicians of the country do not get," said Mehta in his closing
remark.
PREZ POLLS: WHO VOTES AND HOW
===============================
The President of India is elected by an electoral college, comprising
the Members of both the Houses of Parliament as well as the MLAs of
all state Assemblies.
The total number of members in the Electoral College for the
Presidential elections in 2007 is 4896 (233 Rajya Sabha MPs + 543 Lok
Sabha MPs + 4,120 State MLAs).
However, unlike any other election, the value of votes of the voters
are different here. While the value of votes of each MP is the same,
the strength of a vote of an MLA is determined by way of proportional
representation.
The MPs, too, have a specific value for each vote that is determined
by dividing the total value of votes of all the states by the total
number of elected members of Parliament (Lok Sabha 543 + Rajya Sabha
233).
The total value of votes of all members of each State Assembly is
worked out by multiplying the number of elective seats in the Assembly
by the number of votes for each member.
For instance, in case of Andhra Pradesh, since the total population
(1971 Census) is 43,502,708 and the total number of elective seats in
the Assembly 294, the number of votes for each member would be
43,502,708/1000 x 294 = 147.96 or 148. This means the value of each
Andhra MLA's vote is 148.
Now multiplying that number with the number of elective seats can
give the value of total votes for the all members of the House:
294x148 = 43,512.
The Constitution (Eighty-fourth) Amendment Act, 2001 provides that
until the relevant population figures for the first census to be taken
after the year 2026 have been published, the population of the states
for the purposes of calculation of the value of votes for the
Presidential Election shall mean the population as ascertained at the
1971-census.
Thalabathi
Sorry to all...
Forgot to mention the source
Source: http://www.ibnlive.com/news/debate-patil-right-man-for-prez/42793-4-single.html
yours
Thalabathi..