New Delhi, June 15: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today appointed a five-member committee, which includes Pranab Mukherjee and Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, to see Pratibha Patil through to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Ahmad Patel, R.K. Dhawan and Suresh Pachauri are the other members of the panel, which will help file nomination, mobilise support and ensure Pratibha wins big.

Das Munshi, the parliamentary affairs minister, will be her election agent. AICC office-bearers have been asked to stay in Delhi for the next few days so that several sets of papers can be filed by the Congress’s legislative and parliamentary wings, comprising party MLAs and MPs.

The NDA and the “third front” struggled to come up with a credible candidate. Sources close to Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat continued to put up a brave face, saying he was prepared to take on Pratibha.

But signals from the eight-party alliance were confusing. Shekhawat got the support of old friend Chandra Shekhar, who appealed to all parties to back the Vice-President.

Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu is said to be less than enthusiastic about opposing Pratibha — on grounds of gender. In fact, there is talk in the NDA if a “token fight”, involving another woman, would be a better option.

Sources said a clear picture would emerge on June 18, when the Samajwadi Party, Desam, Asom Gana Parishad and the ADMK will take a final view.

Some signals could come tomorrow from the ADMK, whose chief Jayalalithaa may spell out her stand on the presidential polls at the party’s executive meeting in Chennai.

Trinamul Leader Mamata Banerjee and her party’s Dinesh Trivedi will not attend the NDA meeting on June 16. Sources close to Mamata said her absence did not mean a shift of stand, but NDA leaders were checking if she was with them. They also got in touch with Samajwadis’ Amar Singh.

The NDA is keen to put up a credible fight after Atal Bihari Vajpayee asserted yesterday there was no question of supporting the UPA nominee.

Today, Shekhawat went to Vajpayee’s home for a hurriedly-convened meeting, attended by L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh and Jaswant Singh and Janata Dal (U)’s Sharad Yadav.