Assembly Elections 2012: Poll debacle can constrain Congress in Presidential choice

NEW DELHI: The Congress party's poor show in the just-concluded Assembly polls in five states has raised questions over its ability to get a candidate of its choice elected as the next President of India in the July poll.

With incumbent Pratibha Patil's term ending in July this year, the ruling UPA coalition will have to start the search for an acceptable candidate over whom a consensus could be arrived at.

The UPA, unlike in 2007 when it had the Left combine which solidly backed the ruling coalition's nominee Patil, it has in the current dispensation allies like the Trinamool Congress which differs with the Congress on issues every now and then.

The Congress, which does not have a majority either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, is estimated to have a voteshare of 30 per cent in the Presidential electoral college and has to depend on its allies, friends who support the government from outside and others who can be counted upon.

The Congress itself has over 275 MPs in both the Houses which account for a vote value of over 1,90,000 and a value of about 1,35,000 in the legislatures.

With only one third of the total vote value in its kitty, the Congress will have to walk the extra mile to see its flock intact in the ruling coalition and to woo those outside.