Pratibha Patil, Governor of Indian state of Rajasthan. Patil was chosen Thursday as the nominee of India’s governing coalition for next month’s presidential elections, setting the ground for the country’s first woman president. India’s governing coalition chose a woman as its presidential candidate Thursday, setting the stage for her to become the country’s first female president.
Pratibha Patil, the governor of northwestern state of Rajashtan, was nominated by the Congress party and its allies for next month’s presidential elections, According Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Parliament and state legislatures choose the president, and the ruling coalition has enough votes to get its candidate elected.
The post is largely ceremonial, though the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces and has the power to declare a state of emergency in times of political crisis.
The choice of Patil, 72, surprised many political observers because she lacks national stature and is not known much outside her home state of Maharashtra.
A lawyer before entering politics, Patil became a member of the state legislature in 1962. She was appointed a minister several times in the state government between 1962 and 1985. In the following decade, she served as a member of Indian Parliament.
Her nomination followed weeks of consultations between the Congress party and its coalition partners, who reportedly opposed the names of better known candidates.
Political parties have used their choice for president as a symbolic gesture to display their secular and progressive credentials.
Hindu-majority India has had three Muslim presidents, including the incumbent A.P.J Abdul Kalam, since winning independence from Britain in 1947. It has also had a president from the minority Sikh community. Kalam’s predecessor came from the bottom of the caste hierarchy.
Patil would be the first woman to hold the presidency.
While women have fared well in Indian politics in the past – Indira Gandhi served as prime minister for more than a decade from 1966 – that has not always translated into greater rights for women.
Girls in India are seen as a burdens, requiring a huge dowry that many families cannot afford. Their education is often neglected, and many don’t get adequate medical treatment when ill.
