Narayanan’s day of reckoning today

NEW DELHI, July 13: Members of Parliament and legislative Assemblies across the country will vote tomorrow in the Eleventh Presidential ele...

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NEW DELHI, July 13: Members of Parliament and legislative Assemblies across the country will vote tomorrow in the Eleventh Presidential election, which is expected to see the elevation of Vice President K R Narayanan to the highest office.

Narayanan is all set to become the next President with the support of the three groups which account for the bulk of the 4,848 member-strong electoral college — the United Front, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The only other candidate in the fray, former chief election commissioner T N Seshan, is easily dismissed. He has been assured the support of the Shiv Sena and some independent MLAs from Maharashtra.

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A few small Left parties have declared that they are unimpressed with both candidates and has announced a boycott. The parties include Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) with its six MLAs in Bihar, the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) with two MPs and five Assam MLAs, and the three MLA-strong Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI).

Four separate sets of nomination papers were filed on behalf of Narayanan by United Front, Congress, BJP and Samajwadi Party while only Shiv Sena moved Seshan’s candidature.