Patil is President, votebank swells

Describing her win as “a victory of principles”, the Congress candidate said she was grateful to “the voters... the people of India, the men and women of India”.

The counting of the 3,789 ballots cast concluded around 4.30 pm, and seconds later, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi rushed out to inform the waiting media. The margin of 3,06,810 votes was “more than expected”, gushed Dasmunsi, who managed the Congress campaign. Patil, he added, scored more than her projected strength in all parts of the country.

Patil got 65.82 per cent of the polled votes against rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat’s 34.18 per cent.

“I congratulate Smt Pratibha Devi Singh Patil on being elected the country’s President and accept my defeat in the presidential election with all humility,” Shekhawat, who contested as an Independent candidate, said in a statement.

Returning officer P D T Achary formally announced the results — the total value of polled votes: 9,69,422; Patil: 6,38,116; Shekhawat: 3,31,306.

Achary then drove to Patil’s South Avenue residence, just outside the President’s Estate, and handed over the certificate of her election. That moment onwards, she became the “President elect”, and protocol officials from the Home Ministry took charge.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi were the first visitors for the President elect. “The victory of Pratibha Patil is the victory of those forces which seek to unite our people,” Singh said. “It is a vote against the politics of divisiveness” and it would “strengthen the foundation of our secular republic.”

Sonia said she was elated at the country getting its first woman President after 60 years of Independence. “I thank everyone, all UPA leaders, voters, (BSP chief) Mayawati and the other leaders who supported Pratibha Patil,” she said. “It is a special moment for women and men too.”