Who Will Be India's Next President?

"Rajiv Gandhi's poster-boy for reforms, he quietly revolutionised the telecom sector, paving the way for subscriber trunk dialling, public call booths and nationwide networks."

Goenka also said: "If I had to place my bets, I'd predict a photo finish between (Vice President) Hamid Ansari and Sam Pitroda," Goenka said.

Pitroda himself has made no specific public comment on the sudden upsurge in his favour. Those close to him say he is focused on his current assignment as advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on public information infrastructure and innovation.

But he is not alone in this presidential stakes.

Ansari, a career diplomat, was for sometime the most obvious choice. But he seems to have lost some of his clout after his infamous adjournment of the Rajya Sabha during the Lokpal debate that earned him the opposition ire.

About Manmohan Singh. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has always insisted there is no question of replacing him as prime minister. And Pranab Mukherjee. He remains the principal trouble-shooter for the party.

He is too overqualified to become president, as one senior Congress leader said.

(With inputs from Agencies)