Pranab flaunts more allies, Sangma lags behind

In a show of strength, UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday seemed to have a clear edge over NDA nominee PA Sangma in terms of allies turning up in his support.

While filing his nomination papers for the for the election of country's 13th President, Mukherjee was accompanied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh

Pranab Mukherjee participating in a puja ceremony at his ancestral home in Mirati, near Bolpur, Birbhum in 2009. Back then, Mukherjee was the Union finance minister in the United Progressive ...

Pranab Mukherjee in celebration mode with the then state Youth Congress (I) chief Mamata Banerjee after his victory in the biennial poll to Rajya Sabha from West Bengal in 1993. ...

Pranab Mukherjee with his wife, Suvra Mukherjee in 1987. The two preferred to stay at 13, Talkatora Road even though Mukherjee was entitled to a better bungalow in his capacity ...

Pranab Mukherjee with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the Delhi airport in 1986. HT file photo

Pranab Mukherjee going through his papers during his stint as finance minister in 1983.  HT file photo

All through his political career, UPA's Presidential candidate, Pranab Mukherjee, has been successful in maintaining an unblemished image and upholding probity in public life.

Mukherjee went through a bad phase when, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, he fell out of favour vis-à-vis Rajiv Gandhi. He remained out in the cold for a long ...

He devours books, works well past midnight, and said in a rare peek into his personal life in an interview that he hardly was able to find time for his ...

He is down to earth, lives modestly, and has admitted many a time that he cannot speak polished English. For one who is supremely self-confident, he can be humble. But ...

His indispensability is reflected in the number of key ministerial decision-making groups, known as Group of Ministers, he has been asked to head since 2004 -- of the 183 groups ...

He is the man the Congress - both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh - have turned to every time there is a political crisis. Each time, Mukherjee has risen to ...

From the time he first became a minister for revenue and banking by Indira Gandhi in 1973, Mukherjee has held a variety of portfolios in successive governments. He first headed ...

After degrees in history, political science and law, Mukherjee gave up his two initial loves - teaching and journalism - to take to politics.

His life journey began in December 1935 when he was born into a middle class family in Birbhum district of West Bengal. His father Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee was a Congress ...

Remarked a former secretary in the government who worked under him when Mukherjee was foreign minister: "He has a photographic memory for the fine print and remembers negotiating details and ...

He is considered a walking encyclopaedia on virtually everything related to politics and governance that makes it difficult for any bureaucrat to hoodwink or trip him.

A powerful orator and a formidable negotiator, Pranabda - as the Bengali 'bhadralok' is adoringly addressed - came to acquire in his five decades of parliamentary politics traits that have ...

He has presided over cabinet meetings when the prime minister has been away for the last 25 years, but somehow the top post has eluded him because of, what political ...

78-year-old Mukherjee is a man of unparalleled experience who has the rare distinction of having served at different times as foreign, defence and finance ministers.

Pranab Mukherjee is seen with PM Manmohan Singh at UPA II's anniversary in New Delhi. (Reuters)

PM Manmohan Singh and NCP chief Sharad Pawar are seen in this file photo with Pranab Mukherjee.

UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee is seen in this file photo. (HT Photo)

In this 1999 file photo, Pranab Mukherjee is seen with Congress leaders Manmohan Singh and Meira Kumar.

In this HT archive photo, former foreign secretary K Srinivasan is seen with Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee has been nominated as the UPA's Presidential candidate.

In this HT archive photo, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is seen with Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee has been nominated by the UPA as its Presidential candidate.

In this photo from HT's archives, former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao discusses with Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee has been nominated as the UPA's Presidential candidate.

In this 1994 file photo, Pranab Mukherjee is seen with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee speaks at the 2011 HT Leadership Summit in New Delhi. (HT Photo/Raj K Raj)

Mukherjee also has the support of NDA allies Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Shiv Sena as well as the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Ajit Singh, Lok Janshakti Party's Ram Vilas Paswan, National Conference's Farooq Abdullah, Indian Union Muslim League's E Ahmed and senior DMK leader TR Baalu were amongst the other leaders present on the occasion.

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Pranab seeks blessings, cooperation after filing papers

• Sangma files nomination, says it's victory of tribal unity

• Sangma slams Congress for not supporting tribals

"I only wish at this time that we have the blessing of god and cooperation of all at this juncture," Mukherjee told reporters after filing his nomination at the Rajya Sabha secretariat.

Sangma, who slammed the Congress for not supporting a tribal candidate, was seen with Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, BJP president Nitin Gadkari and party leaders LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were amongst.

"Today is a victory of tribal unity, that a tribal is filing his nomination for the post of president," Sangma told reporters ahead of submitting his papers to Rajya Sabha secretary general VK Agnihotri, the returning officer for the election.

Interestingly, Congress MP Arvind Netam was with Sangma during the filing of his nomination. Netam is the chief of Tribal Forum of India which is backing Sangma in the preisdential election.

However, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee is yet to declare her support.

The filing of nominations marks the formal start of the race for presidency, in which Mukherjee appears to have a clear edge over Sangma.