It's Kovind versus Kumar; 90 others shown the door

As was expected, former Bihar Kovind will face former Lok Sabha Speaker Kumar in the July 17 election. And, again as expected, the motley crowd that eyed the top constitutional post -- from a tattooed man to a compulsive election contestant -- were all shown the door.

Among the would-be contenders were K Padmarajan, who called himself the "Election King" because he had taken part -- unsuccessfully, though -- in over 150 polls.

Then there was a self-proclaimed record holder, who described himself as "Ripley's Guinness Rishi", claiming that he had a record number of tattoos on his body.

The Patels from Mumbai -- a husband and wife duo -- had starry dreams, too. The couple, who filed their nomination papers on June 14, told officials they wanted to share the two top constitutional posts of the country between themselves.

Saira Bano Mohammed Patel and Mohammed Patel Abdul Hamid said it would be "good" if one of them became the president and the other, the vice president, an official said.

There was a surprise name -- Lalu Prasad Yadav -- among the 90-odd people who filed their papers. Though RJD supremo Lalu Prasad cannot contest any election because of a conviction, his namesake from Bihar's Saran district had submitted papers for the poll.

"It seems these days more people are coming to Parliament to become the president than going to Mumbai to become an actor," a Lok Sabha secretariat official quipped.

But the scrutiny led to the rejection of each of their papers, and of the others who wished to be in the fray without the support of the electoral college.

Under the rules, a nomination has to be proposed by at least 50 electors and seconded by another 50.

MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and members of the state legislative assemblies comprise the electoral college that votes for the president.

Now only Kovind and Kumar are in the race to Raisina Hill.

Both have filed four nomination sets to ensure that they don't miss the bus to Rashtrapati Bhavan because of a technical error in their papers.