Shekhawat loses out, UNPA won’t vote for President

BOYCOTT ALL: Jayalalitha declared UNPA's decision to neither support Patil nor Shekhawat in the President polls.

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New Delhi: The third front has dealt a body blow to NDA-backed Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s chances by deciding to abstain from participating in the Presidential elections. This will ensure an easy win for Pratibha Patil.

The leaders of the alliance, who met in New Delhi on Saturday to formulate their strategy for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential polls remained steadfast on their earlier stand to not extend support to either UPA candidate Pratibha Patil or her Independent rival Shekhawat, who is a veteran BJP leader.

Patil's ride to Rashtrapati Bhavan has just got smoother as NDA candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was heavily banking on UNPA support to make a fight of his contest against Patil.

That was the only way he could think of challenging the huge 2 lakh lead which Patil already enjoyed. But that was not to be.

"We have decided not to go either with the NDA or the UPA. We will abstain from choosing the Presidential candidate,” UNPA leader J Jayalalitha declared on Saturday.

Abstention means that Shekhawat straightaway loses every possibility of garnering those crucial 1 lakh votes which the UNPA commands. And it means that the UNPA wants to maintain its distinct identity, especially with the 2009 general elections not too far away

All the constituents of the United National Progressive Alliance have their own regional compulsions, which is why parties like the SP, AIADMK and the TDP could not risk alienating the Muslim voters. And so they decided not to support NDA backed Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

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