New Delhi, June 16: Pratibha Patil pushed the television microphones away with one nervous, jerky wave of her hand, bringing the news conference to an abrupt end.

“I will talk to you again after I have filed my nomination. Till then I don’t want to speak to you,” the UPA’s choice for the President said with an uneasy smile, adding “please” at the end.

She was not impolite, and not completely at ease either, thrust into the limelight after her sudden elevation from governor of Rajasthan to the would-be President of India.

Her first day in the capital after announcement of her presidential candidature was spent mostly behind closed doors, first at Sonia Gandhi’s house, then at the Prime Minister’s residence, and finally at Jodhpur House, where she reached around 1 pm.

At Jodhpur House, after negotiating the media, Patil rushed into the inner chambers as delegations of political leaders, bureaucrats and admirers queued up to meet her.

The first to be allowed in were former Karnataka chief minister Dharam Singh and Karnataka Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge. Next was Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Secretarial staff taking down the list of those who wanted to wish “Madam” were suddenly told to stop after Chavan came out. All the other “well-wishers” were asked to go in together.

But two minutes later they were hurried out.

“Madam is quite tired with all this and she doesn’t really like this sudden adulation,” a personal attendant said in hushed tones.

Later in the afternoon, Patil emerged. This time to visit Rajghat and pay her tributes to the Father of the Nation.

Patil also said: “I will seek the blessings of Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawatji as well. I will ask for an appointment.”

But in the evening, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who is likely to contest as an Independent, outbid her in extending courtesy and drove down to Jodhpur House to meet her.

Irrespective of who wins the presidential race, Patil has already pipped Shekhawat on one count, if Jodhpur House veterans, like gardener Surat Ram, are to be believed.

“Ek baat to pakki hai. Jab Shekhawat uprashtrapati bane the, tab yahan itna halla nahi hua tha jitna aaj hua hai (One thing is true, when Shekhawat became the Vice-President, the buzz around this place was not as much as it was today).”