Pratibha Patil - Presidential Election

Presidential Election

The presidential role is largely that of a figurehead but it does potentially have greater significance, including that of overseeing the formation of a government in certain situations. The presidential electoral college consisted of around 4900 voters, being MPs and also legislators at state level who between them represented 1.09 million votes, and the selection of a candidate for election is usually arranged by consensus among the various political parties. Consequently, it is common that the candidate does not face a challenger.

On 14 June 2007, United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which was the ruling alliance of political parties in India, headed by the Indian National Congress, and the Indian Left nominated Patil as their candidate for the presidential election to be held in July that year. She emerged as a compromise candidate, being proposed by Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairwoman, after the Left parties would not agree to the nomination of former Home Minister Shivraj Patil or Karan Singh. Patil had been loyal to the INC and the Nehru-Gandhi family for decades and this was considered to be a significant factor, although Patil said that she had no intention of being a "rubber-stamp president".

Contrary to the normal pattern of events, Patil faced a challenge in the 2007 presidential election. The BBC described the situation as "the latest casualty of the country's increasingly partisan politics and highlights what is widely seen as an acute crisis of leadership". It "degenerated into unseemly mud slinging between the ruling party and the opposition". Her challenger was Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the incumbent vice-president and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran. Shekhawat stood as an independent candidate and was supported by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), a group led by the BJP, which had initially considered a legal challenge to Patil's candidature on the basis of media reports concerning alleged irregularities in her financial affairs. That basis of challenge was dropped after legal advice was obtained and the focus of opposition became characterised as one of morality.

Those opposed to Patil claimed that she lacked charisma, experience and ability. They also highlighted her time spent away from high-level politics and queried her belief in the supernatural when she claimed to have received a message from Dada Lekhraj, a dead guru, who told her than she would become president. Various specific issues were raised, such as a comment made by her in 1975 that those suffering from hereditary diseases should be sterilised. It was alleged that Patil had protected her brother, G. N. Patil, who had been named in connection with the Vishram Patil murder case, while another alleged that as a Member of Parliament for Amravati between 1991 and 1996 Patil diverted Rs 36 lakh (Rs 3.6 million) from her MPLADS fund to a trust run by her husband Devisingh Shekhawat. This was in violation of Government rules which barred MPs from providing funds to organisations run by their relatives. The parliamentary affairs minister denied any wrongdoing on Patil's part, and noted that the funds utilized under MPLADS are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India

The INC countered the various issues raised by claiming that in 1947, soon after India gained independence, Shekhawat had been briefly suspended from his police work for taking a bribe. The opposition denied this, and also the INC claim that he had been protecting his son, who had faced charges of illegally acquiring land. The gender of Patil and her interest in issues relating to Indian women were reported as positive attributes. The BBC noted her supporters' claim that her election would be "a landmark for women in a country where millions routinely face violence, discrimination and poverty", while Bloomberg summarised the opinion of the social activist Nafisa Ali as, "In India, where female infanticide is still common and women's representation in the lower house of parliament hasn't crossed 9 percent since independence in 1947, Patil's elevation is seen as a step toward greater empowerment of women." The INC had campaigned for Shekhawat to stand down from his challenge in order to allow a woman to be elected.

Bal Thackeray, the leader of the Maharashtra-based Shiv Sena (SS) party that had been allies with the BJP for 21 years, had announced that his party would break ranks with the NDA and support Patil rather than Shekhawat. This was in part because of her gender but also because SS desired to see the country have a Marathi president. Although he did not expect the decision to cause a more general split with the BJP, Thackeray said that if Kalam had been willing to stand for a second term then SS would have supported him. He also noted that Shekhawat's position as an independent candidate was a ploy by the BJP who, according to him, had realised that if Shekhawat stood as a BJP candidate then he would lose support.

Patil won the election held on 19 July 2007. She garnered nearly two-thirds of the votes and took office as India's first woman president on 25 July 2007.

The office of president has a five-year term and Patil retired from the role in July 2012.