2007 Indian presidential election

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2007 Indian presidential election

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| <- 2002 | 19 July 2007 | 2012 ->

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Nominee  | Pratibha Patil | Bhairon Singh Shekhawat |
Party  | INC | BJP
Alliance  | UPA | NDA
Home state  | Maharashtra | Rajasthan
Electoral vote  | 638,116 | 331,306
States carried  | 21+NCT+PY | 7
Percentage  | 65.8% | 34.2%

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| President before election

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Independent

| Elected President

Pratibha Patil
INC

|

The Election Commission of India held indirect 13th presidential elections of India on 19 July 2007.[1] Pratibha Patil with 638,116 votes won over her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who got 331,306 votes. This result meant that Pratibha Patil became the first female President of India.

## Candidates[edit]

### Official candidates[edit]

* Vice President
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

* Governor of Rajasthan
Pratibha Patil

On 14 June, Pratibha Patil, the governor of the state of Rajasthan, was declared by UPA as its candidate for the election. The Left and other allies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) such as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) announced their support on Patil's candidature. Shiv Sena, an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also supported Patil's candidature. The move came as a surprise as Patil's name was not mentioned among the probables by UPA so far.

Supported unofficially by the NDA, the then Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat filed his nomination as an independent candidate on 25 June 2007.

## Process[edit]

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Further information: President of India § Election of the President

As per the electoral calculation following were the number of votes for respective political parties.

Electoral College (India)

Name of party | Combined value of vote

|

Indian National Congress | 281,015
Bharatiya Janata Party | 253,269
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 81,722
Bahujan Samaj Party | 62,862
Samajwadi Party | 58,403
Rashtriya Janata Dal | 32,727
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 29,752
Janata Dal (United) | 27,057
Nationalist Congress Party | 23,788
Shiv Sena | 22,178
Biju Janata Dal | 19,709
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 19,280
Communist Party of India | 15,130
Telugu Desam Party | 14,744
Shiromani Akali Dal | 13,356
Janata Dal (Secular) | 11,956
Pattali Makkal Katchi | 8,156
Trinamool Congress | 8,070
Telangana Rashtra Samithi | 7,388
All India Forward Bloc | 7,365
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 7,128
Revolutionary Socialist Party | 6,360
Rashtriya Lok Dal | 4,912
Asom Gana Parishad | 4,908
Lok Jan Shakti Party | 4,742
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | 4,140
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 3,904
Indian National Lok Dal | 2,940
Jammu & Kashmir People's Democratic Party | 2,568
Indian Union Muslim League | 2,480
Sikkim Democratic Front | 1,633
Nagaland People's Front | 1,587
Mizo National Front | 1,584
Kerala Congress | 1,316
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen | 1,300
Assam United Democratic Front | 1,160
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation | 1,041
Republican Party of India (Athvale) | 883
Swatantra Bharat Paksh | 883
Kerala Congress (Mani) | 760
Samata Party | 717
Bharatiya Navshakti Party | 708
Indian Federal Democratic Party | 708
National Loktantrik Party | 708
Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | 708
Jan Surajya Shakti | 700
West Bengal Socialist Party | 604
Gorkhaland National Liberation Front | 453
Rashtriya Parivartan Dal | 416
Gondvana Ganatantra Party | 393
United Goans Democratic Party | 372
All Jharkhand Students Union | 352
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi | 352
Peasants and Workers Party of India | 350
Orissa Gana Parishad | 298
Janata Party | 296
Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party | 288
Rashtriya Samanta Dal | 262
Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress | 208
Bharatiya Janshakti Party | 208
Jan Morcha | 208
Rashtriya Swabhimaan Party | 208
Uttar Pradesh United Democratic Front | 208
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal | 192
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam | 176
Jharkhand Party | 176
Akhil Bharitiya Sena | 175
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha | 175
Akhil Jan Vikas Party | 173
Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra | 156
United Democratic Party | 153
Congress (Secular) | 152
Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) | 152
Indian National League | 152
JSS | 152
Kerala Congress (Balakrishna) | 152
Kerala Congress (Secular) | 152
Democratic Socialist Party | 151
Jharkhand Party (Naren) | 151
Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha | 131
Kannada Nadu Party | 131
Republican Party of India | 131
Rajasthan Samajik Nyaya Manch | 129
Asom Gana Parishad (Pragatishel) | 116
Autonomous State Demand Committee | 116
Loko Sanmilon | 116
Manipur People's Party | 90
Democratic Movement | 72
Jammu & Kashmir Awami League | 72
Meghalaya Democratic Party | 68
National People's Party | 54
Himachal Vikas Congress | 51
Loktantrik Morcha Himachal Pradesh | 51
Nationalist Democratic Movement | 45
Pondicherry Munnetra Congress | 48
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party | 40
Save Goa Front | 40
Hill State People's Democratic Party | 34
Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement | 34
Mizoram People's Conference | 24
Arunachal Congress | 16
Zoram Nationalist Party | 16
Hmar People's Convention | 8
Maraland Democratic Front | 8
Independents | 32,202

Figures are based upon Wayback Machine and Rajya Sabha. Figure on Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seats do not take into consideration splits, mergers, defections, expulsions and by-elections after general elections have been held.

## Know Pratibha Patil[edit]

Know Pratibha Patil is part of the political campaign launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the presidential election of 2007. It consists of a website and a PDF booklet (titled "Presidential Election 2007"), created by the BJP under the banner of Project India. Both contain the party's allegation in the form of a compilation of articles from various media. While announcing the website at a press conference, the BJP party general secretary Arun Jaitley also distributed a printed form of the booklet and described it as a compilation of articles / editorials from newspapers on the Presidential contest.[2][3]

The stated objective of the site is to "educate the people about Pratibha Patil, the nominee of UPA and Indian left for Indian presidential election scheduled on 19 July 2007". To support this, the website consists of various sections like 'Cartoon,' 'Pratibhaspeak' and 'UPA Doublespeak' and includes links to video clippings and articles that refer to the various allegations levelled against Pratibha Patil.

The website declares :

> Even though the people do not elect the Rashtrapati, they have a vital stake in the Presidential poll since the winner will become head of the Republic of India. They have a right to know whether the likely winner is worthy of becoming the Head of State of the world's largest democracy. The need to know whether the person embodies, as far as possible, the lofty ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India, of which he or she will be the custodian, or he/she will be a rubber stamp of those who have catapulted him/her to the high Office.

BJP leader Arun Jaitley talking to news-persons called the website a "campaign to provide an informed choice to the electorate (the electoral college)". "The voter has a right to the information about the candidate he is voting for. This effort is intended for an informed choice of the electorate," Jaitley said.[4]

Arun Jaitley did not respond when asked what would happen to the right of information when people are "informed" only about one of the two presidential candidates. He said the website would vanish after 21 July, when the presidential election result will be out.

However, the website can still be viewed via archive.org[5]

An INC spokesperson commented:

> The exercise is futile and aimed at denigrating the office of President and maligning an individual.... There is a frustrated section in the BJP, a queer combination of the senile and juvenile that was denigrating institutions.[6]

### BJP division[edit]

The Times of India BJP leaders had initially looked divided over supporting this campaign against Pratibha Patil. Party chief Rajnath Singh seemed reluctant to be drawn into a "personal attack" while senior party leader L. K. Advani spoke at length on the "pliant President" issue at the party's national executive last month.[4] Daily News and Analysis also reported on the apparent differences among senior leaders on this campaign and had this quote:

> "Rajnath Singh has virtually dissociated himself from all this. Nor has there been any statement so far by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee attacking Patil," a party functionary said.[7]

## Results[edit]

| MPs  | MLAs  | Total

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Pratibha Patil | 312,936  | 325,180  | 638,116
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat | 164,256  | 167,050  | 331,306

Source: "India gets first woman president". NDTV.com. 21 July 2007. Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2007.

## References[edit]

1. ^ Indian MPs vote for new president. BBC News. Retrieved on 19 July 2007.
2. ^ BJP creates website on Pratibha Patil The Hindu – 11 July 2007
3. ^ BJP launches website against Pratibha Sahara Samay – 10 July 2007 Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ a b Know Patil better: BJP puts up website "Know Patil better: BJP puts up website" Times of India, 11 July 2007
5. ^ "Know Pratibha Patil". Archived from the original on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
6. ^ Bid to malign her, says Congress The Hindu – 11 July 2007
7. ^ BJP divided over campaign against Patil "Bid to malign her, says Congress" DNA. 11 July 2007

## External links[edit]

* Election Commission of India Official Site
* President of India Official Site

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