Patil is Cong’s first choice for Prez post

NEW DELHI: Despite the reservations of allies like the DMK and NCP, Shivraj Patil has emerged as the “number one” choice of the Congress leadership for the President’s post. A signal to this effect, according to sources, came after the last meeting of the Congress core committee. There is no likelihood of another meeting of the committee before the UPA-Left coordination committee session on June 13, as both the Congress president and the prime minister will be away on foreign trips.

Notwithstanding the lukewarm response Patil’s name evoked among some allies when Ms Sonia Gandhi discussed the party’s probable candidates with them, the leadership is still persisting with the candidature of the Union home minister, a trusted Gandhi family loyalist.

His proximity to the Gandhis could be gauged from the fact that he was made the home minister despite losing the last Lok Sabha election. Mr Patil was also hand-picked by Ms Gandhi to be her deputy in the Lok Sabha during the NDA regime after the death of Madhavrao Scindia.

Even though his candidature needs the `unanimous endorsement’ of the entire UPA-Left camp which is gearing up for a contest against vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is trying to reach out to non-UPA parties, the Congress is hoping to clear the home minister’s candidature through negotiations with allies.

The Congress camp appears to be arguing Patil’s case on two counts — that the Congress should have the final say as to who should be it’s candidate. To drive home this spirit of give-and-take, they may also cite the ‘withdrawal’ of some probable candidates on account of opposition from a section of the UPA allies. While Pranab Mukherjee is the clear favourite among the allies, especially the Left, the Congress leadership is citing his “indispensability” on coalition management to justify its search beyond him.

Although Patil enjoys a high rating in 10 Janpath, his popularity among many Congress leaders and allies has never been encouraging. His performance as the home minister has been a matter of routine criticism from within the Congress and the UPA-Left combine. With the political heavyweight Shekhawat in the fray, many Congress allies are certain to express their opposition as to the effectiveness of Patil’s candidature.

While the Congress camp acknowledges that some allies could still be cold to Patil’s candidature, the real test is how many of them would actually stick their neck out to block him, given the penchant many allies have to settle for power deals with the Congress. Already, the Congress camp has started hinting about a cabinet reshuffle as soon as the presidential candidate is announced.

There also appears to be an ambitious drive by the Congress now to try and corner the vice-president’s post too with the name of Ms Mohsina Kidwai doing the rounds. Congress leaders say if the Left is not keen on the post of the vice-president, the party could eye that post too.

This calculation was clearly demonstrated when the CWC authorised Ms Gandhi to name the vice-president too “if necessary”, a move that coincided with the party’s growing understanding with the BSP.