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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JPR who wrote (12406)	7/18/2002 5:56:12 PM
From: JPR	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Kalam Elected the Next President of India Two poets and Bramacharis at the helm New Delhi July 18. The 71-year-old scientist, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, will be the next President of India. He was declared elected today by R.C. Tripathi, Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha, who was also returning officer for the Presidential election (for which the votes were cast on July 15 and counted today). Dr. Kalam will move into the Rashtrapati Bhavan after he is sworn in on July 25. Dr. Kalam, who was supported by the ruling National Democratic Alliance, the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party and the Samajwadi Party, polled 4,152 votes whose value in terms of electoral college works out to 9,22,884, just a little less than 90 per cent of the valid votes. His only rival, Lakshmi Sahgal, who was supported by the two communist parties and the Janata Dal (Secular) notched up 459 votes with a vote value of 1,07,366, a little more than 10 per cent of the votes. The Members of Parliament (776) and the Members of Assembly in all the States (4,120) constitute the Presidential electoral college. The vote tally in the unequal contest was along expected lines. Dr. Kalam won comfortably and decisively in almost all the States, whereas only West Bengal and Tripura provided a margin of comfort to Capt. Sahgal. The real surprise was the number of "invalid'' votes from among the MPs. As many as 42 MPs cast their votes in an "invalid'' manner. It clearly amounted to an indirect "vote of conscience'' among the NDA and/or the Congress parliamentarians. Dr. Kalam, who was the last-minute choice for the NDA, obviously did not enthuse the saffron-brigade's hardcore sections. Soon after Dr. Kalam was declared elected, Capt. Sahgal issued a statement congratulating him. She also thanked "those who have sponsored and supported my candidature in the Presidential election. It gave me the opportunity to address a wide section of the people, regarding the vital issues facing the country, especially the danger posed by the communal forces in the wake of the Gujarat events''. As soon as he was declared President-elect, Dr. Kalam was inundated with calls and visitors wanting to congratulate him. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, was among the first to telephone him, while the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pramod Mahajan (who was also his election agent), was the first to reach Dr. Kalam's residence to hand him over the election declaration. The President, K.R. Narayanan, sent Dr. Kalam a message of congratulation, wishing him every success. Later in the evening, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, rang up Dr. Kalam conveying her greetings and congratulations. After winning the election, Dr. Kalam himself suggested that "we need a vision, a second vision for the nation to get India transformed into a developed country in 20 years''. He also took the opportunity to once again address his critics, who had doubted his suitability for the republic's top job on account of his unfamiliarity with politics. ``I am working from 1982 onwards directly with the Government whether it be related with research, launch vehicles or nuclear programmes. Unless political decisions are taken, satellites will not be in orbit. Political decisions are vital for the success of any programme. I have worked with six Prime Ministers, I know how to handle politics.'' `Cut your hair' PTI reports: If Abdul Kalam cuts his hair he will look much better — this was a suggestion made by a voter in the ballot paper for the Presidential election. The ballot paper, which became invalid, also said Capt. Sahgal should have contested the election 20 years ago. This was revealed by Mr. Mahajan. Another invalid ballot paper had a note in Marathi saying that either Dr. Kalam should cut his hair or Mr. Vajpayee should grow his hair. ``Both brahmacharis should look alike.'' These were two of the 174 votes found invalid, and 42 of these were cast by MPs. Andhra Pradesh had the maximum number of 17 invalid votes, followed by Punjab at 14 and Madhya Pradesh with 11.