Pratibha Patil files nomination for Presidential election

NEW DELHI: UPA-Left candidate Pratibha Patil, on Saturday, filed her nomination papers for the Presidential poll, the first nominee of a major political combine to enter the July 19 election fray.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi by her side, 72-year-old Patil filed two sets of documents before the Returning Officer and Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary in Parliament House.

It was a show of unity in the UPA-Left alliance as top leaders Lalu Prasad, Sharad Pawar, Ramvilas Paswan, T R Balu Ramdas Athawale, Sitaram Yechury, Gurudas Dasgupta and Abani Roy were present.
A host of Union Ministers including Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil, Arjun Singh, A K Antony, Sushilkumar

Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan besides Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his Delhi counterpart Sheila Dikshit were also present.

Patil's husband Devisingh Shekhawat accompanied her to Parliament House.

If elected, Patil, who resigned as Rajasthan Governor on Thursday, will become the first woman President in independent India.

NDA has already declared support to Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as an independent candidate, but he has not yet formally announced his nomination for the top post.

Earlier, Patil with her family members visited Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, to pay tributes to the Father of the Nation.