NDA sharpens knives for Raisina Hill's next resident

The outcome of the presidential election is hardly in doubt. Even the opposition NDA believes Pratibha Patil will win, although top BJP leaders say they will not give up their campaign against her family's involvement in a host of legal cases.

"It is going to be a long haul," BJP leader LK Advani said when asked what their attitude would be towards a person against whom charges of all description had been levelled. This, leaders say, does not augur well for Patil's likely term.

"Although the president has judicial immunity, her kin do not. So you can be sure that we will monitor the progress of the case against Pratibha Patil's brother in the Bombay High Court. Collusion in a murder is a serious charge," a leader said.

The BJP has a considerable presence in Jalgaon, Patil's home town, which she represented in the Maharashtra Assembly until she became the leader of Opposition. It was the ascendancy of the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar that undercut the Congress in the constituency and led to the rise of the BJP.

"Pratibha Patil will not just be a rubber stamp president. She will be a vulnerable person because of the judicial cases against her family. So democracy will be under threat in the days to come," Advani said.