The race for the Rashtrapati Bhawan has already heated up with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari emerging as favourites for the top post, even before the formal process for the election to the new President of India begins.
With the term of President Pratibha Patil coming to an end on July 25, final touches are being given to the preparations for the Presidential poll by the Election
Commission.
A notification for the election of the new President could be issued soon, sources in the Election Commission said.
However, even before the notification for the polls, names of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari have emerged as favourites.
Besides Mr Mukherjee and Dr Ansari, other names doing the rounds for the post are of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, Speaker Meira Kumar and former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma.
Also in the running for the post of the President is the Granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi Sumitra Gandhi Kulkarni.
However, of all the names, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari have emerged as frontrunners.
In the past weeks, the Congress has been holding consultations with its allies as well as other parties for a possible consensus for the post of the President.
Though Congress is yet to declare its nominee for the post of President, sources said the ruling party has been trying to evolve a consensus on the name of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for the post.
In fact, a special meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the top decision making body of the party, tomorrow, called by the party to discuss the political and economic situation in the country, is also expected to deliberate on the possible names for the post of the President.
Though officially it has been said that the meeting would review the economic and political situation in the country and that the nominess for Presidential polls would not be discussed at the meet, sources say that the possible names for post being considered by the party would be discussed at the meeting which will be attended by members of the Congress working Committee, special invitees, permanent invitees, chiefs of the various PCCs and state CLP leaders and CMs of Congress ruled states.
They said the party might announce the name of its presidential candidate after the CWC meeting.
–Agencies