(CORR) India Elects First Woman President
Text of report by Indian Doordarshan DDTV news channel
[Correcting date in source line earlier published wrongly as 19 July]
Text of unattributed report headlined “Pratibha Patil becomes first woman president of India” published by Indian TV channel DD News website on 21 July
UPA [United Progressive Alliance]-Left nominee Pratibha Patil has won the presidential election by a huge three lakh [1 million equals 10 lakh] margin defeating NDA [National Democratic Alliance]-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to become the first woman head of state in a bitterly-contested poll that saw some cross voting from BJP [Bhartiya Janta Party].
In the final count, Patil got 638,116 votes while Shekhawat secured 331,306 in an electoral college of 10.98 lakh.
The winner got 65.82 per cent of the valid votes, Lok Sabha Secretary General and returning officer P. D. T. Achary said at the end of counting of votes that lasted for over six hours, declaring Patil elected.
In parliament, she got 442 votes against 232 for Shekhawat. In states and union territories put together, the winning candidate bagged 2,489 votes against the losing candidate’s 1,217.
Dashing all hopes of the BJP-led alliance for a conscience vote in favour of Shekhawat, the 72-year-old former governor of Rajasthan significantly picked up 10,000 more votes than expected, helped by cross voting in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Chhatisgarh.
In the other saffron [BJP]-ruled state of Madhya Pradesh, Shekhawat did not get even the expected votes with 11 declared invalid because of “Om” and “Jai Shri Ram” [Hindu religious chants] scribbles on them, apparently indicating rebellion in the BJP voters.
President-elect Pratibha Patil has described her win as the “victory of the principles” which the people of the country uphold.
“I am grateful to the voters… I am grateful to the people of India, the men and women of India,” Patil, said soon after she defeated NDA-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat with a big margin of over three lakh votes.
“This is the victory of the principles which our Indian people uphold,” Patil, the first woman to occupy the country’s highest office, told media persons waiting outside her residence at New Delhi.
Patil, who emerged victorious in perhaps the most bitterly fought presidential election, flashed the victory sign.
Earlier, Lok Sabha Secretary General P. D. T. Achary, who is the returning officer for presidential election, gave Patil the certificate of her election to the highest office in the country.
A large crowd of supporters gathered outside her residence to celebrate her victory as leaders arrived to congratulate her.
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