Congress candidate former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma filed nomination papers for the presidential election on Thursday.
Pranab Mukherjee filed his nomination in the presence of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and handed it to Vivek Kumar Agnihotri, Rajya Sabha Secretary General and Returning Officer for the Presidential polls.
The former finance minister thanked Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Janata Dal United (JD-U), Communist Party of Inida - Marxist (CPM), Shiv Sena and other political parties for have faith in him.
P.A. Sangma filed his nomination in the presence of BJP leaders like Nitin Gadkari, L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader M. Thambidurai were also present at the time of nomination.
Sangma appealed to the tribal community across India to support him and make him the first person from the community to hold the highest post of the country.
The 14th Presidential election will be held on July 19 and the results will be declared on July 22, two days before the term of President Pratibha Patil ends.
The President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of elected members of both Houses of Parliament, and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all States including National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
However, the nominated members of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies of the States are not eligible to participate in the election.
The electoral college for the Presidential poll 2012 is 4896. 776 Members of Parliament and 4120 Members of Legislative Assemblies will take part in the elections.
