Kalam (left) and Shekhawat at an awards event in New Delhi on Wednesday. (AP)

New Delhi, May 23: Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Shivraj Patil are pinning hopes on Lord Venkateswara to “escort” them to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Much in the manner of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya who dashed to the Tirupati temple before their wedding, the President hopefuls have been spotted there seeking the blessings of the presiding deity.

Shekhawat paid obeisance to the Tirupati god last month, before the National Democratic Alliance took a call on what its strategy for the presidential election should be.

Soon after, the word from the NDA camp was that if it joined the fray, Vice-President Shekhawat would probably be its candidate. “But numbers willing, not Tirupati Balaji,” said a Janata Dal (United) functionary.

A couple of days ago, Patil was spotted in the temple atop Tirumala hill, perhaps on a similar mission.

After genuflecting before the deity, the Union home minister flew to Puttaparti near Bangalore to seek the blessings of his guru of several decades, the Sai Baba.

Nobody knows if other presidential aspirants have looked heavenwards. But with Patil belonging to a party where loyalty to the boss fetches the biggest premium, he will have to wait till Sonia Gandhi speaks to count his blessings.

A Congress source said Sonia had kept an “open mind” so far and not decided in favour or against anyone.

It is believed that Sonia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — so far, all serious consultations in the Congress have been between them — feel the UPA candidate should get the maximum possible support in the electoral college. Also, instead of rooting for a “loyalist”, Congress chief was of the view that qualifications, stature and similar criteria should be given more importance.

The source said both Sonia and Singh were aware of the popularity ratings totted up by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in various opinion polls.

Although the NDA has declared it was against a second term for Kalam, the Congress knows that any successor wo-uld face a tough comparison in popularity ratings. This had made zeroing in on a candidate “tough”, a source said.

“It basically means getting the UPA plus outside supporting parties plus the maximum number of unattached parties and Independents,” a cabinet minister said.

The Congress is through with one part of the multi-tiered exercise: the Left and the Rashtriya Janata Dal are okay with its candidate, though with some reported caveats.

The DMK has yet to be formally consulted. This will be done next week when Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi lands in Delhi for the National Development Council meeting.

According to Congress calculations, Sonia and Singh would have a “fair” idea of Mayavati’s expectations by this weekend. Once the BSP boss unveils her “hand”, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would follow, the sources said.

By then, the number jigsaw would fall in place, the sources hoped. The Congress would then unveil its nominee.

Sources in the BJP camp said Shekhawat and his aides have also been hard at work.

Digvijay Singh, a Dal (United) Rajya Sabha MP, was marshalling support for Shekhawat through a combination of caste (read Rajput) bonding and PR skills, the sources said. He is reportedly in touch with “every party”.

Digvijay had managed Shekhawat’s election to the Vice-President’s chair in 2002, in which he pipped the Congress’s Sushil Kumar Shinde by a large margin, thanks to cross voting.

NDA sources said a repeat might not be possible, given the numerical edge the UPA has.