Pranab Mukherjee elects 13th President of India
New Delhi. Pranab Mukherjee was on Sunday elected the 13th President of India, after the long innings as a Congress leader and the party’s chief troubleshooter over the past eight years. He got a vote value of 5,58,194, crossing the required half-way mark of 5,25,140 after counting of votes in half the states was over. His rival PA Sangma, supported by some opposition parties including BJP, could manage get only a vote value 3,15,987.
In brief comment after being elected to the top post, a beaming Mukherjee pledged to “protect, defend and preserve” the Constitution of India.
“I will try to justify in a modest way as I can to be trustworthy”, he told reporters.
Greetings poured from all over the country on Pranab’s emphatic win.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, many senior Cabinet Ministers, BJP president Nitin Gadkari, chief ministers and Governors of various states congratulated Pranab Mukherjee.
Sangma, a former Lok Sabha Speaker who quit NCP to contest the Presidential race, congratulated Mukherjee and wished him success.
Sangma, a former Lok Sabha Speaker who quit NCP to contest the Presidential race, congratulated Mukherjee and wished him success.
However, he alleged that the election was “exceptionally partisan” as the UPA lured states with “packages, inducements and threats.”
Besides Congress and its partners in the ruling coalition, Mukherjee won the support of UPA’s outside supporters, including SP and BSP, and even a few opposition parties, such as CPM, JD(U), Shiv Sena, AIFB and JMM.
Sangma scored in BJP-ruled states, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Goa. However, in Jharkhand, where BJP shares power with JMM, Sangma got fewer than expected votes of only 20 MLAs. Despite campaigning as a tribal candidate, Sangma also lost out to Mukherjee in the northeastern states, including his home state of Meghalaya. He drew a blank in Nagaland, where 58 MLAs voted for Mukherjee. In Mizoram, Mukherjee got 32 votes while Sangma polled 7; in Manipur, Mukherjee won 58 votes compared with just one for Sangma; Meghalaya yielded 34 votes for Mukherjee while Sangma got 23 votes.
