Pratibha Patil’s husband was one among the dignitaries who attended the 20-minute-long ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament to swear-in the first woman President of the Republic.

Surely, he may not have been noticed by many sitting last in the front row. But nobody would have missed him at least after the ceremony was concluded.

Silence pervaded the historic Hall in Parliament when Patil was leaving slowly with folded hands after the simple ceremony. While outgoing President A P J Abdul Kalam, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha Acting Chairman Rehman Khan were accompanying her, all the dignitaries were standing near their seats and looking straight.

But a man on the front row was an exception who turned back and looking at the first woman President being escorted out in a ceremonial procession. Many may not have seen the man in white dress before, but it was easy to gauge from his mannerism that it was none other than the husband of the First Citizen, Devi Singh Shekhawat.
As Patil was moving towards the main exit gate, Shekhawat was seen slowly moving towards another gate near his seat unmindful of the others in the hall still looking straight.

But his movement was briefly interrupted by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who was the first to congratulate Shekhawat immediately after the ceremony. In fact, Shekhawat, who sat near BJP president Rajnath Singh, was the first among the dignitaries to leave the hall after the swearing-in.

Though former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat lost his battle in the Presidential election to Pratibha Patil by a margin of more than 300,000 votes, he was among many dignitaries who came first to the Central Hall of Parliament to witness the swearing-in of the first woman President of India.

Shekhawat, who resigned as Vice-President immediately after the announcement of presidential election results on July 21, first sat near Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

He, however, gave the seat to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh when he came near the Prime Minister and occupied the seat next to Arjun Singh.