Who Will Be India's Next President?

Meira Kumar may be a popular choice. But India has a woman head of state already. Defence Minister A.K. Antony, a Gandhi family loyalist, also is a strong contender. India has not inaugurated a Christian president yet. But three months may prove to be too short a period for the army chief's age and bribe controversies to die down.

Sangma is a Roman Catholic. He is also cosying up to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh. But the circumstances under which he quit Congress party will not find favour with the loyalists of the present leadership.

Kalam's name has been apparently suggested by several parties. But the Congress is not in his favour. He is also 80. As for Quraishi, he has earned quite a share of displeasure of senior leaders who may not like him being sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

How do the numbers play out. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance holds 40 percent of the votes and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 30 percent in the Electoral College that consists of members of parliament and the state legislatures.

The Congress is keeping its card close to its chest, so are the other parties. It could be none of these names, but a complete dark horse that Sonia Gandhi had thrown up the last time after the CPI-M rejected Karan Singh's candidature.

(With inputs from Agencies)