In fact they had been expecting the defeat once the United Nationl Progressive Alliance decided to abstain from the election and not support Shekhawat.
At least 72 per cent of MPs and MLAs across the country on Thursday voted to elect a new President in a race in which United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee is set to win with a huge margin over P A Sangma who is backed by some opposition parties.
That's a deficit the NDA will have to make up with the help of 'friendly' alliance partners, the very groupings the PM has said are 'family-run'.
Sharad Yadav, JDU chief and NDA convener, tells Gyan Varma if the UPA had discussed Pranab Mukherjee's nomination for Presidential election before announcing his name, the NDA would not have put up its candidate against the former finance minister
United Progressive Alliance on Wednesday projected a united picture on the eve of the Presidential poll with all constituents including Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and supporting parties attending a lunch hosted by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
Disrespect to alliance partners during Pratibha Patil's Goa tour to seek support for presidential poll is one of the reasons why the Congress-led government plunged into minority, former chief minister Churchill Alemao said.
In an interesting meeting scheduled for July 13, Pranab Mukherjee, the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition's nominee for the Presidential election, would be calling on Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, to thank him.
Pranab Mukherjee and P A Sangma will file their nominations on Thursday, setting off the presidential race between the United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-backed opposition candidate in which the ruling alliance is set for a runaway victory.
Against the backdrop of dramatic twists and turns in the Presidential race, key National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal-United on Thursday refrained from making its stand clear on the issue saying the United Progressive Alliance should first settle it within itself.
Citing Constitutional and legal provisions, the Election Commission on Tuesday rejected the petition of opposition-backed Presidential nominee P A Sangma camp against United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee's nomination saying the same is not maintainable before it.
The presidential candidate of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, Pranab Mukherjee on Friday stated that he banked on judgement of the members of the Electoral College for the outcome of the forthcoming Presidential election.
With the recent ganging up of regional parties on common issues, the coming Presidential election appears set to go down to the wire unless the ruling United Progressive Alliance manages to evolve a consensus on the successor to incumbent Pratibha Patil.
The decision was taken at a meeting in senior BJP leader LK Advani's residence on Monday, which was attended by the party's allies. At a press conference soon after, Jaswant Singh described the decision as a "great honour".
A day before the July 19 Presidential poll, Congress President Sonia Gandhi will host a lunch for the members of Parliament of the United Progressive Alliance and supporting parties.
The National Democratic Alliance on Thursday got another jolt in the Presidential race with the Janata Dal-United becoming the second NDA ally after Shiv Sena to break ranks with Bharatiya Janata Party to support United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee.
Reconciling with division within the National Democratic Alliance over Presidential poll, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced its support to P A Sangma to pit him against United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee.
Strong reservations from key ally Janata Dal-United over pitting a candidate against United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday forced the National Democratic Alliance to defer its decision on the Presidential election.
After a meeting at BJP leader LK Advani's residence, from which the BJP's oldest ideological ally the Shiv Sena kept away, NDA convenor Sharad Yadav merely said more discussions were needed to arrive at a right decision
With Pranab Mukherjee winning the race to Raisina Hill, Team Sangma on Sunday once again reiterated that they would move the Supreme Court over the next few days to file an election-related petition against the UPA candidate
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday rejected the contention that the choice of candidate for the vice-Presidential poll was based on regional consideration.
Opposition Presidential nominee P A Sangma on Monday sought cancellation of nomination of United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee under the office of profit rules on the ground that he is the chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal legislature party on Saturday decided unanimously to vote for United Progressive Alliance's candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential polls to be held on July 19, the party's national president Lalu Prasad said. At the RJD legislature party meeting held at former chief minister Rabri Devi's residence, it was unanimously decided that all 22 Members of Legislative Assembly of the party in Bihar and five in Jharkhand would vote for Mukherjee.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has designated party general secretary Ananth Kumar and senior leader S S Ahluwalia to assist P A Sangma in the Presidential election management.
Winding up his campaign for the Presidential election, National Democratic Alliance candidate P A Sangma on Wednesday met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and thanked her for supporting his candidature for the top post.
With United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi naming Pranab Mukherjee as the Presidential candidate, priests at Sri Jagannath Temple at Puri sought the Lord's blessings for him.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday met senior Congress colleagues, including Pranab Mukherjee, to discuss the Presidential poll issue ahead of the United Progressive Alliance meeting.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night for consultations with United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday on the issue of the Presidential poll nominee of the UPA, amid intense speculation on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the post.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leaders T R Baalu and M K Stalin on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and are believed to have discussed the issue of selection of a candidate for the presidential election. The meeting lasted for around 5 to 7 minutes and was described by the DMK leaders as a courtesy call.
Key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress, however, may propose the name of former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as Mamata Banerjee is not quite enthusiastic about Ansari's candidature for second term
In an apparent U-turn, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi rejected reports that he has threatened a pullout from the United Progressive Alliance government over the recent petrol price hike.
Trump knows by now that the western narrative of Biden's war is a load of bullshit peppered with falsehoods and outright lies, and that the war erupted only out of the diabolic western plot to poke the bear, which got provoked finally and hit out, explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Mamata Banerjee's fate in the United Progressive Alliance hangs in the balance with the Trinamool Congress leader continuing to give a loud and clear message that her party is not going to vote for Pranab Mukherjee as the UPA's Presidential candidate.
Sharpening his attack on United Progressive Alliance rival Pranab Mukherjee, Opposition-backed Presidential nominee P A Sangma on Tuesday said Rashtrapati Bhavan was being used as a "dumping ground" for the "failed" former finance minister.
The presidential nominee of the United Progressive Alliance, Pranab Mukherjee is set to have a rewarding visit to Jammu and Kashmir on July 15.
Trinamool Congress, a major constituent of the United Progressive Alliance, on Monday night decided to support the alliance's vice presidential poll candidate Hamid Ansari but oppose any decision to open the multibrand retail to FDI and bills on forward marketing in commodities and privatisation of pension fund in the monsoon session of Parliament.
Despite an uneasy relationship between the Congress and Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee has reached out to the mother of the rebel leader to seek her party's support in the election. Mukherjee, the ruling United Progressive Alliance's nominee, spoke to Jagan's mother Vijayamma a few days ago, requesting that her party support him in the July 19 Presidential election.
Presidential candidate P A Sangma has written to the Presidential election returning officer seeking a copy of his detailed order rejecting Sangma's objection against the candidature of United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
Set to file nomination papers for the Presidential poll, a sentimental Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday resigned as finance minister to "embark on a new journey", leaving behind his four-decade stint as a political activist.
In a rebuff to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and the Bharatiya Janata Party, former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday announced that he would not contest in the Presidential poll against United Progressive Alliance's nominee Pranab Mukherjee. Issuing a formal announcement, he said he had taken the decision after considering "the totality of this matter and the present political situation".
Having rejected the three names proposed by the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party combine, the Congress is expected to come out with the name of the United Progressive Alliance candidate either on Thursday or Friday.
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