It will be a straight contest between UPA-Left candidate Pratibha Patil and NDA-backed “independent” candidate B S Shekhawat this presidential election on July 19 as nomination papers of all other 72 aspirants were rejected on technical grounds on Monday.

This was announced by Returning Officer, Lok Sabha Secretary-General P D T Achary, after a scrutiny of all nomination papers submitted even as Leader of the Opposition L K Advani approached the Election Commission demanding a directive to Ms Patil to disclose her assets, a move that the Congress ridiculed saying that the regulations for presidential elections did not have this rule.

Mr Achary said all four sets of nomination papers of Ms Patil and two sets submitted by Mr Shekhawat were found to be valid. With the formalities of the nomination process completed, the UPA-Left combination is now understood to be ready to take on the NDA and counter its allegations against Ms Patil aggressively.

The first salvo from the UPA-Left side will be fired on Tuesday when UPA-Left leaders will jointly address the media.

Criticisms
Rebutting Ms Advani for seeking EC’s directive to Ms Patil to disclose the assets she owned, Parliamentary Affairs Minister and her chief election manager P R Dasmunsi ridiculed “legal luminaries of BJP”, like Ravi Shankar Prasad, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, for “not studying” the regulations of presidential election.

“I only wished they had found out that the Representation of the People Act’s rules, which are applicable for legislative and parliamentary elections, are not applicable for this election which is governed by the President and Vice-President Election Act of 1952, amended in 1974,” he said.

Mr Dasmunsi sought to know why Mr Advani had not moved a proposal to the government in the last five years, “if he is so serious about it”, to amend the Act to make it mandatory for presidential and vice-presidential elections to declare their assets.

“They could have themselves done it when he was the deputy prime minister, or proposed to the UPA government,” he said.

PRATIBHA USURPED KARGIL FUND: PIL
As if the mudslinging on UPA Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil was not enough, an advocate has moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking direction to the Election Commission to cancel her nomination papers as she had allegedly siphoned off the contribution of her bank employees to the Prime Minister’s Kargil Relief Fund and usurped Rs 17.5 crore loaned to her sugar mill by a cooperative bank two decades ago.