Had she had not crossed swords with Sonia Gandhi and quit the party in a huff, Najma Heptullah would have been United Progressive Alliance's most obvious choice for a woman candidate for the post of President of India.

Top Congress leaders agree.

"There is no point talking about her as she has already missed the bus by quitting the party. She must be regretting the moment. The party has made its choice and we are going to stick by it," a senior party functionary said.

Amongst those who joined Najma included women social workers and politicians like noted Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande, National Commission for Women Chairman Girija Vyas, Margret Alva and Ila Ben Bhatt from Gujarat.

Nirmala Deshpande could have well made it had the Left not insisted on a political person.

Communist Party of India leader D Raja confirmed that the names of stalwarts from Congress like Arjun Singh and Moti Lal Vohra kept figuring from time to time, but they were not acceptable.

"We were told about the choice of Pratibha Patil when we went to meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi on June 14 morning," Raja told rediff.com on Saturday morning.

Left parties, who had been pitching in for Pranab Mukherjee despite his official denial, had very little choice. Rest was a formality that needed to be fulfilled. By 1500 hours on June 14, word had spread that the Congress president would announce the name by 1830 hours.

Even press notes on Pratibha Patil Shekhawat were kept ready to be distributed to the media. But someone from the Congress tipped off the media about her possible nomination. An hour before the official announcement, her name was on all television channels and news networks.