Race for Raisina: Shekhawat vs Patil

RACE FOR RAISINA: The race for the top job is on its way to becoming a slanging match.

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New Delhi: The race is on and neither side is willing to give up. The Congress is sweating, not because it needs to make an extra effort to win, but because every once in while, its candidate Pratibha Patil puts a new hurdle to negotiate with her controversial statements.

However, the party is smug about its numbers, which is why it wants BJP's nominee Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to step out of the race.

"I think he should give way to a woman. This will do good for women empowerment," Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi had said in an interview to CNN-IBN.

But BJP wants Congress to do a rethink. At the party's National Executive on Tuesday, both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani pointed out that a tainted candidate should not be allowed to step into Raisina Hills and instead parties should vote by conscience and opt for Shekhawat.

"There is no dearth of women leaders in the nation and no one should think that, "says BJP Spokesperson, Sushma Swaraj, in what is an obvious attack on the UPA's 'woman' candidate.

As both Shekhawat and Pratibha Patil begin their campaign tour next week, the race for the top job shows signs of becoming a slanging match.

Both the BJP and Congress are wondering who will blink first. As conscience vote is the slogan of the day, one wonders how long will this drama continue.