Pranab Elected President

A bitter Sangma, a former Lok Sabha speaker supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal, accepted defeat, but called for a “code of conduct” for the presidential polls and said the election this year has been exceptionally “political”. It is likely to be a political term too.

The widely held view was that Mukherjee, who could have been prime minister given his seniority in the government, would be the best person to handle post 2014 Lok Sabha election complexity.

“He (Mukherjee) knows the whole country (in the way) a non-political person cannot know. Post-2014 situation can be difficult, there should be a person who can handle the situation,” Sharad Yadav, JD-U chief and a key member of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said.

For the Congress-led UPA, it was a moment to cherish. There was rejoicing and celebratory fireworks. All roads it appeared led to Mukherjee’s Talkatora Road residence.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi called on the president-elect.

A beaming Defence Minister A K Antony said: “He will make a very, very good president.”
The parties began soon after the wooden ballot boxes were opened at Room 63 of Parliament House, and it became evident that Mukherjee would emerge the victor.

The Electoral College comprises MPs and legislators. There are 776 MPs; each MP’s vote equals 708 votes. There were 4,120 assembly members eligible to vote. The value of a legislator’s vote is variable depending on the population of the state the member represents.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said: “With his years of experience, Mukherjee will be one of the wisest presidents.”