Presidential poll on July 19

NEW DELHI, Jun 13 (Agencies): The Presidential election will be held on July 19, the Election Commission announced today, setting in motion the process to decide the successor to incumbent A P J Abdul Kalam.

Counting of votes for the election to the 13th President is scheduled on July 21, three days before Kalam demits office.

Announcing the poll schedule, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami said that the election shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote and the voting would be by secret ballot.

Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary has been appointed Returning Officer for the election.

According to the schedule, the notification for the election would be issued on June 16, the last date for filing nominations is June 30, scrutiny on July two and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is July four.

776 Members of Parliament, including 543 from Lok Sabha and 4,120 MLAs from various states, including Delhi and Puducherry, constitute the electoral college whose total vote value comes to 10,98,882 votes.

The ruling UPA alliance has got over 5.13 lakh votes while the strength of the opposition NDA is over 3.54 lakh votes and the combination of eight regional parties constituting the third front accounts for 1.05 lakh votes.

While Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat is all set to enter the fray as NDA-backed independent candidate, the identity of the UPA nominee still remains a suspense amidst reports that Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was the front runner.

Though BSP, having substantial votes, has come out in support of UPA, the Left parties, accounting for over one lakh votes, will be holding consultations with DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi before announcing their decision.

Left is rooting for External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and feels Patil was not that strong a candidate to be pitted against Shekhawat.

The UPA and the NDA are expected to have meetings in the next few days which would decide their nominees and the stage would finally be set for election to the highest office.

All Presidential elections so far had witnessed a contest except for in 1977 when Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was elected unopposed.

Only the first President Rajendra Prasad held the office twice in 1952 and 1957.

Last time too there was a contest when Kalam emerged as a dark horse and won with a thumping majority with the Left parties putting up little resistance by fielding Lakshmi Sehgal.

The nominated members of Parliament and state assemblies are not eligible to vote.

While MPs can cast their votes in Delhi and MLAs can do so in their respected state capitals, in special circumstances the MPs can vote in any state capital.

Likewise, MLAs can also vote in Delhi if they so decide.

A nomination paper of a candidate for the election has to be proposed by at least 50 electors and seconded by an equal number.

An elector can propose or second only one candidate.

The security deposit for the election is Rs 15,000, which is required to be made along with the nomination papers.

Need to probe Al Qaeda CD issue: Union Home Secy SRINAGAR, Jun 13 (Agencies): The Centre today said there was a need to inquire into the matter relating to a CD allegedly circulated here by Al Qaeda, since it has security implications in Jammu and Kashmir.

“There is a need to look into it and inquire about it that what is it all about.

We will ask the state government about it (at tomorrow’s security review meeting) and if there is need for more inquiry or some action, it would be taken,” Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta told reporters here when asked about the CD.

He said whenever anything of this nature, which has anything to do with any possible security implications, was reported by the media, “I cannot say I have not seen it”.

Gupta arrived here to attend high level meetings to discuss the recommendations of the four working groups set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deal with Kashmir issue.

The working groups had submitted the recommendations to the Third Roundtable Conference on April 24 “It has been decided that we should now try to see how we can work to carry that process further in the context of the recommendations of the working group,” he said after chairing the first session of the series of meetings.

Top officers from civil administration, police, army and other security agencies were present in the meeting.

Gupta said he was accompanied by officials from other central ministries to have a better understanding of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Gupta said he will meet state’s Governor S K Sinha and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, besides concerned officers from the state, to get a better understanding of the overall situation.

Asked if there was any recommendation of the working groups on priority for implementation, Gupta said the purpose here was not to isolate one recommendation from other recommendations.

“The purpose is to go through all of them,” he said.

There could be some recommendations which can be implemented immediately while there might be others which require more detailing, consideration and time for implementation, Gupta said.

The Home Secretary during the meetings will also discuss the rise in infiltration of militants from across the Line of Control.

The infiltration level during May has been the highest — with 82 militants reportedly sneaking into the state.

The army is already working overtime to repair the fencing in North Kashmir that has been damaged by snow during winter months and this work is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

The meeting will deliberate on strengthening the security network in areas where intelligence inputs have suggested that militants have a large presence, sources said.

Security for the pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine, which begins at the end of this month, will also be reviewed.

The state is going to seek more paramilitary forces for providing multi-layer security along the route from Jammu to Pahalgham in South Kashmir, they said.

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