NEW DELHI, India, July 13, Reuter: The result of today’s election for a new President of India is a foregone conclusion, but the ruling Congress Party has served a three line order to vote on its members just to make sure.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Party has a huge majority in both Houses of Parliament and despite recent reverses controls more than half of the 25 state legislatures.

But today’s vote for the country’s highest, but nonexecutive, Office is by secret ballot, and Con8T€ss wants to make certain that its chosen candidate, 76yearold Vice-president Ramaswamy Venkataraman, gets home in convincing style.

The weighted votes of the 776 national MPs and 3,919 state Parliamentarians add up to just over one million voting points, and for Venkataraman to gain less than 70 per cent would be a personal setback both for him and for Gandhi.

Anything less than this total would mean some Congress members had switched their votes to the opposition candidate, Supreme  court Judge V.R. Krishna Iyer, to show their dissatisfaction with  Gandhi’s ‘leadership.

The result of the poll will not be known until Thursday, but “there is no doubt Mr. Vekataraman’s glorious victory”, Gandhi told a party meeting last night.

After losing virtually every election he and his party have contested since his landslide victory in 1985, Gandhi may not have been quite as confident as he sounded.

But the expected victory, by whatever margin, will at least remove one thorn from the Prime Minister’s side. He has suffered several uncomfortable months of wrangling over constitutional powers with the present incumbent, Zail Singh, and must be looking forward to a smoother ride with the respected but colorless Venkataraman.

Zail Singh, handpicked for the job by Indira Gandhi but never Close to her son, accused Gandhi of lying to Parliament, refused to sign controversial legislation and did little to quell belief that he might try to dismiss the Prime Minister after allegations of corruption surrounding arms deals.

The dismisal showing in State elections, most recently the humiliating defeat last month in Haryana, has raised serious doubts about Gandhi’s future in politics.

But with no nationally acceptable alternative in sight, last night’s meeting gave him an unexpected boost. The Deputy party leader declared “complete confidence” in Gandhi and the meeting, grouping virtually every Congress Member of Parliament, gave him a standing ovation.

Among those applauding were all the major dissident figures in the party, including ousted minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Arun Nehru, seen as the most likely alternative to Gandhi.

They could scarcely not have joined the tribute, but their public display of loyalty will make it more difficult for them to oppose Gandhi, and equally for him to move against them.

Congress sources say Gandhi intends to use the expected Presidential victory as the springboard for a renewal of the party and his leadership.

They predict Cabinet reshuffles in the national and state governments, changes in the armed forces leadership and an attempt to nurture the long neglected grassroots of Congress.

But in India’s world of vested interests, any move is bound to be opposed by someone. How far and how fast Gandhi can move to restore his Party’s public support for him holds in the privacy of the ballot box. Thursday’s result will show.

Article extracted from this publication >>  July 17, 1987